Gate Masters
by Rift1
Summary: This is a story of a group of teenagers tasked to save the world. Of a legend that has to save his past. Of the final battle that will judge just who is the most powerful one of them all...
1. The Angel Slayer

Gate Masters Part 1:  
The Angel Slayer  
By Angel_Slayer_Battousai  
dark_mew@edsamail.com.ph  
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Author's note:  
First and foremost...err....welcome to my sorry excuse for a Rurouni Kenshin Fanfiction. It's kind of twisted, but you won't find any out-of-this-world character warping or anything. I'm keeping the characters here as IC as they possibly can. (Yeah, right...)  
  
Anyway, standard disclaimers apply...I own this text file right here and all the letters you see on it...Rurouni Kenshin belongs to Watsuki Nobuhiro...Gatekeepers belong to GONZO...The Angel Slayer and The Countess Reina Chiharu are the fabrication of my mind and my mind alone....Cooking Master Boy can go STRAIGHT to Hell....quotes belong to their respective owners....Love Hina rocks, I tell you....By the way, some parts might be a little lemony...okay, maybe a lot......and violent...but this is not a lemon....or you'll be just downloading this not to read but to....uhm....whatever.  
  
Keep off drugs, read with an open mind, forget about the glaring chronological and spelling errors and you'll finish this fic wih your computer and mind intact.....  
  
I'm a beginner at this. I'm not afraid to admit it. I say it loud and proud.  
  
This story was created on April 9, Year 2000, 1:29:12 am, Pacific Standard Time....completion date is still unknown.....  
Updates semiregularly....depending on the webmaster...  
  
Contrary to public opinion my name is not always Angel Slayer Battousai.  
  
If you see AkABANGbang or $n0w_M@n in any CounterStrike Server, do the whole gaming community a favor by switching to the team opposite theirs and kill them. PLEASE. Camp if necessary - just kill them.  
  
Never drink Pepsi. No valid reason, but I hate their commercials...  
  
You *CAN* post this in your website...just email me first..I'd be glad to oblige...and never take off anything, including this disclaimer.  
  
Comments, suggestions, send 'em all to the email address above. The one way up top.  
  
Espresso kicks the hardest when injected straight to your femoral artery. Really.  
  
There are MORE Fanfiction about Gatekeepers around, but not much on the corny alternate kind. You could probably find them all on fanfiction.net but I will be a big rat bastard and say that mine is the best.   
  
But that's the caffeine and my ego talking. Really. Don't take my word for it.  
  
"What do you want, Clarisse? Something to hang on your wall, to remind you of your courage, your incorruptibility? You don't need a plaque for that, Clarisse...all you need is a mirror."  
-Hannibal Lecter  
  
-=[Unit Two-One][Angel Slayer]=-  
2001  
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"The snow falls softly, covering everything in white. This way, no one can see the sadness or tears, the loneliness or fears, no one can see how love is truly beautiful."  
  
  
**PROLOGUE**  
  
There are the Keepers, and then there are the Masters.  
  
There are those who control the Gate. There are those who are controlled by their gates.  
There are those who are the gates themselves.  
  
One man -- only one has achieved that level. To be so connected to his Gate that both his soul and the Gate itself are fused together, giving him unlimited access to it--  
  
--Giving him the power of a god--  
  
--And that man - feared in life as well as in death --  
  
For he never dies, nor stays dead--  
  
--armed with the sword of the gods--  
  
--None other than Kenshin Himura.  
  
The Angel Slayer himself.  
  
=Extracted from AEGIS Data Library,  
Entry no. 38974,  
command line: Kenshin Himura, Gatemaster Unit=  
  
***********************************************************************************************  
  
This is the story of one man with the power of a god....a group of teenagers presented with the task to save the world....where even a loved one could be an enemy....and the impending invasion that would become the greatest battle in the history of Mankind...  
  
This is the story of The Gate Master.  
  
***********************************************************************************************  
  
******  
September 9, 1969. Tategami High, second floor, Room Class 2-A.  
******  
  
"Ikusawa, Ruriko!"  
  
Ruriko Ikusawa, 17, of class 2-A of Second Year of Tategami High, straightened in her seat and raised her hand. "Present," she said, looking dejectedly at Ukiya, who was snoring along with Bancho.  
  
*Oh, Shun....you shouldn't have stayed up all night just to give me this...* Ruriko raised her right wrist and eyed the bracelet Ukiya gave her for no apparent reason at all.  
*It's months before my birthday, it's weeks before ANY obvious holiday....* The final bell rang, end of the day, and the signal to meet at AEGIS HQ.  
  
As the students poured out of the classroom, Ruriko picked up her bag and walked over to Ukiya.  
  
"Ukiya-kun," Ruriko shook his shoulder gently. "Ukiya-kun!"  
  
No response.   
  
"Ukiya-kun....come on, wake up....the Commander's probably waiting for us..." Ruriko needled, one hand shaking Ukiya's shoulder while the other tucked the loose strands of hair behind her ear.  
  
Still no response.  
  
"Okay, fine," Ruriko huffed, crossing her arms. "I'm leaving, and don't say I didn't try to wake you up when the Commander reprimands you again," She turned to leave.  
  
"Gomen na sai, Ruripe," Ukiya's muffled voice filtered through his arms so unexpectedly that Ruriko almost jumped. He stood up and raked his hand across his unruly hair, grinning. His gaze dropped to her hand. "Oh. You wore it..."  
  
"Yes, I..." Uncertainty flickered in her voice, but then she smiled. "I forgot to thank you yesterday night. Sumimasen, Ukiya-kun."  
  
"It's alright, Rurippe, just don't do it again," The keeper of the gate of life narrowed her eyes at Ukiya. "Er.... why don't we go out after the meeting? If you're not doing anything..."  
  
Ruriko stopped. Ukiya was...asking her out on a date?  
  
"Not some fancy stuff, mind you, just some good food and a walk in the park afterwards..."  
She silenced him by grasping his hand and looking into his eyes.  
  
"Ukiya-kun, I'd love to."  
  
As they walked to the hidden door to AEGIS, Ruriko pinched Ukiya's wrist.  
  
"Just don't order any more kid's meals, alright?"  
  
Ukiya gave a groan of pain and assent as they went down the tunnel.  
  
***  
Ruriko straightened her ribbon, which somehow got tangled into her hair. She looked at Reiko, who was talking animatedly to Feye. Megumi was as usual buried into her notebook. Bancho was dozing. Kaoru was reading something from a piece of paper, probably the poem the teacher assigned to be memorized for a quiz. Yukino was nowhere. Ukiya was studying a sheathed katana that was placed in front of the space where the Commander would pop up.  
  
"Ano....Ochiai-san, what's the sword for?" Ukiya asked the Commander's personal secretary.  
  
Oichia brushed her hair. "I'm not quite sure....all I know is it's been here longer than I have, and the one who owned it died four years ago."  
  
"Well, can I...?" Ukiya reached for the sword.  
  
"I'd rather you didn't," Ochiai said with a frown. "Commander asked me to extract that from the Weapons Cache vault personally. It might be important. Besides," Ochiai leafed through her file. "The sword is programmed to emit nine gigavolts of electricity if touched by anyone but the owner."  
  
Ukiya jerked his hand back, as if it had caught fire.  
  
Ochiai looked at Ukiya strangely, and then laughed into the back of her hand. "Just kidding, Ukiya. I had Megane-kun turn that function off."  
  
"Oh." Ukiya reddened, then glared at Ruriko and Kaoru, who were giggling girlishly.  
  
"It's a Gatekeeper's weapon, if you must know." Ochiai put down her file, unsheathed the weapon and pointed it at Ukiya with the ease and expertise of an experienced swordsman. "A reversed edge sword, with two micro energy amplifiers."   
  
She put it back into its sheath and locked the catch in one smooth motion. "Commander was supposed to give you this during training, but I guess he saw it fit to give you a unit two bokken instead. The gatekeeper who used this took all his life to master it."   
  
"Where'd you learn how to-"  
  
"Just a few kenjutsu lessons, Ukiya. With all the invaders around, a girl can't be too careful, ne?"   
  
Suddenly, Ochiai's mobile phone rang.  
  
"Excuse me." Ochiai hunted for her phone in her pockets as she half-mindedly tossed the sword to Ukiya, who caught it warily, looking at it as if it were a snake.  
  
"Here we are," Ochiai breathed as she pressed the 'accept call' button on her phone. She raised it to her ear. "Hello? Commander? Yes.....you're going to visit him?...say hello to him for me, will you?....um...yes...I'll see to it right away."  
  
She snapped her phone shut and began to open her file. "It seems that Commander can't attend today's meeting. Now I know all of us need to go home early, I for one *need* to clean my apartment, so I'll be brief."  
  
She pressed a key on the Commander's keyboard. A map of Japan appeared on the screen with several red dots on it. "We've been receiving large electric wave signals across the country but that's it. No influxes or hostile activity of any kind. Also no sightings. It seems the invaders are keeping low profile."  
  
She pressed another key. "As for the Dark Gate, we haven't found anybody fitting his description. If you see him, confront him with caution if you have another Gatekeeper with you. If not, call for help. Preferably try to always be in pairs..." Ochiai glanced pointedly at Ukiya and Ruriko. "..just in case." She closed her file and deactivated the screen. "Any questions?"  
  
Ruriko raised her hand. "The school will be holding a play next week, and...we're all in it. We..."  
  
"...are concerned about security?" Ochiai shrugged. "If the invaders attack that time, I'm sure you can take care of them. After all, you'll be in the stage, right? We'll just place heavy surveillance and if any invaders show up, we'll make an emergency intermission. Something vague, like, the lights have gone off and we have to replace them, or something. Megane'll have the Gate Machine prepped up and ready." She looked at the Gatekeepers. "Anything else?"  
  
Silence, except for Bancho snoring.  
  
"Well, if there's nothing else, meeting adjourned." Ochiai tapped the table with an air of finality, and looked at her watch. "Maybe I can catch that last bus..." she walked off.  
  
Ruriko stood up and tucked the loose strands of her hair behind her ear, thinking of the night ahead. It would be romantic, the stars in the night sky, the fresh air, the lights of the city above them...and maybe, she could ask Ukiya why he had given her the bracelet..... she gave a inquiring look at her bag. Homework could wait.  
  
she closed her eyes, smiling.  
  
"Ukiya-sempai! Sempai!"  
"Tage-kun!"  
  
Ruriko's reveries were shattered abruptly by Kaoru and Feye, latching themselves to Ukiya's two arms. A vein throbbed in her temple. Ukiya sweatdropped. The nerve....!  
  
"Sempai!! Let's go to the European Carnival that just came into town! All the other students are talking about it. Please?" Kaoru looked up to Ukiya expectantly. "Well?"  
  
"I'm sorry, but I can't. I have something t-to do tonight.."  
  
"C'mon!" Fei crossed her arms angrily. "You promised!"  
  
"I...I did?" Ukiya looked blankly at the 12-year-old Gatekeeper, who was getting redder by the minute. "I..I.."  
  
"OF COURSE YOU DID!!" Fei tugged hard at Ukiya's arm. "I can't believe you FORGOT!!!" Fei turned her nose up at Ukiya. "Xiao na ni!! If you don't take us I'll ask Yukino-chan to freeze you again!!"  
  
Kaoru tapped his shoulder. "Look, Sempai, this Carnival is only held in Japan once every three years. I've already reserved tickets for all of us, and it wasn't easy. I've got one for you, one for me, one for Fei-chan, one for Reiko-chan, one for Megumi-chan, one for Bancho, one for Megane and one for Ruriko-chan." Her eyes made a pleading look. "Come on. Please...?"  
  
Ukiya looked at Ruriko for help. Ruriko simply smiled and nodded.  
  
"Well....okay...I guess." Ukiya said, a little awkwardly.  
  
Kaoru clasped her hands. "Great! Let's meet near the Carnival ticket stands, a little bit away from the park fountain. Ja ne!" With that, they ran off, Reiko in tow.  
  
Ukiya glanced apologetically at Ruriko. "I...I.."  
  
Ruriko forced herself to smile. "Baka. Don't look at me as if I'll shoot all my arrows at you."  
  
Ukiya let go of the breath he had been holding. For a moment he had thought she would do exactly that. He put her arm on her shoulder. "Ruripe...gomen. I just didn't expect this..."   
  
"It's alright, Ukiya-kun," Ruriko sighed, holding his hand in hers.  
She raised her other wrist to look at her watch, making the bracelet tinkle softly.  
  
Ukiya smiled. "I never did get to ask if you liked it."   
  
Ruriko whapped him on the head with her bag. "That's because you were snoring away in class. You could've passed me a note or something. Ukiya no baka."  
  
Ukiya sweatdropped.  
  
Ruriko smiled at him. "Well, if you want me to tell you..." She threw her arms around her neck and kissed him deeply.  
The effect was electric. Ukiya was surprised, to say the least. Then he felt Ruriko's tongue caress his, and he kissed her back.  
  
When they seperated, both felt light-headed and warm. Both only felt each other's arms around each other. Both only saw into each other's eyes. Both were oblivious to the outside world.  
  
"Uhm." A cold voice coughed.  
  
That snapped them out of it. Ruriko and Ukiya turned to see Megumi, looking at them over her notebook. Then they realized what they had been doing, and quickly seperated, Ruriko blushing, covering her cheeks. There was an awkward silence.  
  
"I would advise you to refrain from your....current activities until Banba is not in the current vicinity," Megumi raised an eyebrow, "Because he doesn't call you 'Princess' for nothing."   
  
"Umm...thank you, Megumi-san.." Ruriko said softly, bowing. Her hair lightly swayed.  
  
Megumi hmmph'ed in acknowledgement. She turned to Ukiya. "Meet you in the Carnival."   
  
Ukiya looked at her strangely as she walked away. He shrugged and shouted, "Oi, Banba! Meeting's over! Wake up!"  
  
Ruriko's cheeks were still burning. It was so EMBARASSING.....being caught kissing...... but thankfully only Megumi saw them, and she could trust Kuroganei...she wouldn't....COULDN't tell the others, could she.....?  
  
Ukiya offered his arm to her. She blinked at him.  
  
"Well? Shall we?"  
  
Ruriko smiled brightly in acknowledgement. "Let's, my good sir." She took his arm.  
  
After outside the school grounds, Ukiya asked: "So do you like it or not?"  
  
Ruriko looked at Ukiya unbelievingly, and whapped him on the head again. "Ukiya no baka."  
****  
  
The man known to AEGIS Far East only as Commander sat in the quiet night air, waiting.  
  
Waiting for the one man that had left AEGIS, the man that became the most powerful Gatekeeper in all the four AEGIS Departments.  
  
He looked at the lights of the Carnival reflected on the river with a sense of irony and sarcasm. He had not expected this would happen at all. All his life he knew the risks, he calculated them either by instinct or just by pure luck. But this was beyond them. He had never known that he would ask this man for help.  
  
It was five years later.  
  
The man came a little bit later, being towed by two little girls.  
  
He had not changed. At all.  
  
His red hair was still long and messy, the reason for not-too-uncommon reprimands for his part. At least it was still tied loosely back. He still looked painfully thin, but the Commander had seen this man in action to know better. And that scar on his left cheek the shape of a cruel cross.  
  
Or an X.  
  
The Commander smiled inwardly when the man's eyes narrowed when he came into view. Kenshin.  
  
"Kenshin? Kenshin? Oniichan?" The little girl with long hair tugged at Kenshin's right hand, concern in her eyes, wondering why Kenshin had suddenly lost interest. "Look, we don't have to go to the Ferris Wheel if you don't want to..."  
  
The other girl tugged at his hand as well. "Yeah, Kenshin. We'll just go to the Carrousel..."  
  
Kenshin looked down on his two wards and smiled. He knelt down on one knee and said, "No, I just have to talk with that man over there. Besides, I promised you two, ne? I'll take you to the Ferris Wheel after I talk with him."  
  
Ayame smiled. Taking hold of Suzume's hand, she said, "Okay. We'll try to look for a nice girl for you to draw while we're waiting, alright Kenshin?" Kenshin opened his mouth to speak but the two had already ran off.  
  
He shook his head sheepishly, and then turned to the matter at hand. Commander.  
  
"Still drawing?" The Commander remarked as Kenshin sat a little ways beside him. Neither man looked at each other.  
  
"It's a bad habit." Kenshin leaned back and enjoyed the fresh air. "One that I might not get around to breaking."   
  
The other man chuckled softly. "You always did have a pencil handy, even on missions. I remember Ochiai-kun putting a pencil in your medpak."  
  
"Well, Ochiai-san was quite generous with the office supplies, so I helped myself. And a man needs to do more than just gatekeeping." Kenshin said, looking up to the stars. "Why are you here, anyway? If you don't mind my asking."  
He smiled ruefully. "I never knew you liked carnivals, de gozaru yo."  
  
Wordlessly, the Commander reached into the duffel bag that he had been carrying, took out a long package wrapped in leather and held it out to Kenshin. Kenshin looked curiously at the Commander but took the package anyway and opened it.  
  
It was his old Gatekeeper Sakabattou.   
  
He undid the catch and unsheathed it a little. The micro energy amplifiers were still operational, the blade shiny. The moonlight reflected off it like light would a mirror.  
  
"Ano...Shirei...I can't accept this." He put it back into its sheath and locked the catch. He held it out to the other man. "I know what you're thinking, and frankly, I can't."  
  
"You know as well as I do that you are needed, Himura." The Commander made no move to take the sakaba.   
  
"And you know as well as I do that I have done enough." Kenshin looked at the other man with anger. "I had very well given my entire life to AEGIS. I gave my life to protect the people who might turn into what I protect them from any minute."  
  
The Commander looked straight at Kenshin, unfazed. "Are you finished?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Shirei took a file from his bag and tossed it to Kenshin's lap. "Those are pictures of all the enemies we've come across these past few weeks. They're becoming increasingly powerful. Without your help, AEGIS may very well be in trouble."  
  
Kenshin leafed throught the photographs. "Ano...a train? That's original. A racing car...hmmm...that's new....hey, what's-" Kenshin held up a picture of a man in silhouette.  
  
"A Gatekeeper." Shirei breathed. "One who went to the other side."  
  
"Any idea who it is?" Kenshin studied the picture with growing curiosity. The man was strikingly familiar...  
  
"Funny you should mention it. Yes, I have."  
  
"Well, don't keep me hanging. Who is it?"  
  
"Reijin."  
  
Kenshin looked at the picture with sad eyes. "I....knew something would happen, but not like this..."  
  
"The boy had much promise in him."  
  
"He...he was still a kid when sessha left, ne? He was supposed to succeed me as Gatemaster."  
  
"No one can do that, Himura, not even Reijin. No Gatekeeper can control their gate like-"  
  
"I don't control my gate, Shirei." Kenshin placed the picture back into the file. "It controls me."   
  
He looked at Shirei. "Reijin has the ability to surpass my level. In fact, if the invaders already chose him instead of your other Gatekeepers, I'm afraid AEGIS is outmatched. By only one man."  
  
"That's why we need you, Himura. I know I promised you, but..."  
  
"But the fate of the world is more important. I know, I know. It was a good four years with nothing to do while it lasted."  
  
"If it's any consolation, I think we can still convince him to go back to us." The commander tossed a card at Kenshin. It was his AEGIS Identification Badge, renewed. "The invaders haven't fully influenced him yet."  
  
Kenshin said nothing. He looked at his badge. "My picture sucks," Kenshin said simply.  
  
"It's a bad picture, I know. I tried. I had Ochiai-kun find a picture of you from the archives, since your last one was deleted."   
  
Another awkward silence.  
  
"I never knew this day would come, to tell you the truth." Kenshin held up the badge to the light. "I've seen the new ones in action, and I think you've done a pretty good job of training them..."  
  
"What do I know of Gatekeeping?" The Commander chuckled dryly.   
  
"You led three generations of Gatekeepers, Shirei. Surely you must get to know something." Kenshin scratched his head. "By the way...you married her yet?"  
  
The other man stiffened. "..married..?"  
  
Kenshin chuckled. "C'mon, you know! Ochiai! You said you were going to marry her someday, right? You said it the night before I left!"  
  
The Commander was speechless. "I...I.."  
  
Kenshin now laughed. "You...you mean to...tell me...that you haven't even asked her...out..yet..?" he said between gasps of hilarity.  
  
"A few times..." The Commander coughed. "We went out.."  
  
"On those few times you went out, did you ever go to dinner?"  
  
"...no..."  
  
"This is hilarious. The man with 'twice the strategic genius of napoleon' or so he says," Kenshin said, fingers miming quotation marks, "..can't even take out a girl on one decent dinner!"  
  
The Commander looked at his watch. "This conversation isn't going the way I hoped it to be, so I'm taking the coward's way out by remarking that it's getting late and I need to go home." He looked at Kenshin. "Tomorrow, then?"  
  
"As if I have a choice." Kenshin did the AEGIS salute halfheartedly. "Affirmative. AEGIS."  
  
"Maybe we can discuss how you're going to fit into the High School, since you're already 29..."  
  
"Yeah, yeah." Kenshin spied his two girls pulling a girl of about fifteen with short brown hair in his direction. "Go on. Shoo. I have work to do, de gozaru."  
  
Shirei nodded, and started to walk away when he stopped. "Himura, I'm sorry for all of this."  
  
"Sorry and regret always take place in the end, Shirei. You're too late."  
  
The man who is only knew to AEGIS as Commander left.  
  
****  
It was perfect.  
  
Ruriko sighed happily, chin propped up with her hands on the table. Not the most expensive place in the city, but certainly agreeable.  
  
The restaurant was quite exquisite, for one that opened once every season. The tables were all koa wood, as far as she could tell, and the whole place smelled of jasmine. Expensive silverware and china dishes adorned the tabletops, with an occasional bottle of vintage wine or champagne half-buried in a ice-filled bucket. And since it was already nightfall, the overhead lights were turned down and candles were lit, making everything glow with a soft inner light, and the silverware sparkle.   
  
But what was most surprising of all was instead of the choking, 'sophisticated' atmosphere you would find in such refined restaurants, it was light-hearted, none of the heavy cramping obligation that you had to watch every move you make. A jukebox was playing an instrumental version of a western song titled 'Eyes On Me'. A party was being held in one corner. It was so perfect, even Yukino-chan seems to be having fun.   
  
*Agreeable? It certainly would be, if you were eating WITH him, him NEXT to you, instead of way across the table...* a nasty little voice pointed out. Ruriko risked a glance at Ukiya, who was chatting animatedly with Kaoru, probably about some sport Ruriko could break her neck playing.  
  
Ruriko massaged her temples, as if to stave off an impending headache.  
*Look, as much as I want to sit with him I can't. We can't be seen together. I know Commander's going to have a fit if he finds out.... a Gatekeeper can't have a relationship which could jeopardize or endanger the team's safety...*  
  
*Look, everbody knows already. The Commander knows. Ochiai knows. Hell, even Reiko knows!*  
  
Ruriko put on a smile and politely declined when Bancho and Megane invited her to ride the Carnival's rollercoaster, the Widow-Maker.  
"Sorry....I just ate. Maybe later." *Were we that obvious...?*  
  
*You're asking yourself...? You were both practically all over each other earlier!*  
  
She blanched as a mental image came unbidden. Yuck. *Come off it. We've kissed dozens of times....er...wait, why am I talking to myself anyway? Maybe I really do need to lay off coffee....Ochiai said it could severely damage one's brain...* Ruriko smiled inwardly. *Maybe I could talk to Yukino-chan for therapy.....*  
  
"Nee-chan..." a small voice squeaked behind her.   
  
"Hmm?" Ruriko turned to see two girls standing behind her seat; one was holding a large piece of illustration board.  
  
"Ehem." The other girl coughed, and the one holding the board dutifully held it up to let Ruriko see it. In big, bold, crayon-scrawled letters the board said: 'Pay Foxtail a thousand yen and he'll draw you a nice pretty portrait. Please?'  
  
Yukino, who was sitting next to Ruriko noticed the sign. "Foxtail...? I wonder..."  
  
"We also accept group portraits," The girl said, very business-like. "And we can negotiate the price, if you like."  
  
"Who is this 'Foxtail'?" Ruriko asked, smiling. This must be either a publicity act or something. But either way, it was very cute.  
  
"He's-" the girl holding the signboard started but the other silenced her with a finger to her lips. "He's our artist, and we're his managers." She crossed her arms and looked at Ruriko in a very stern manner, much like Yukino when someone doesn't quite understand her. "His job is to draw. Our job is to find victi-..er, customers." She dropped the stern look and took on a pleading one. "Please...?"  
  
"Hai, hai..." Ruriko stood up and straightened her skirt. "Where is this 'Foxtail' of yours?"  
  
"In the park." The girl said, all business. "We can go if you're ready."  
  
"Just a minute," Ruriko turned to Yukino. "Yukino-chan...sumimasen, demo.." She blushed faintly. "...can you...? Onegai?"  
  
Yukino looked at her with that icy detached look that she wore so often, but gave Ruriko a secret little smile and a wink. "I'll watch them for you, Ruri."  
  
"Arigato de gozaima-"  
  
"Iie, doitashimashite." Yukino waved her off. "Say hello to Foxtail for me."  
  
"Do you know him?" Ruriko straightened her bow and chuckled when the girls fidgeted impatiently.  
  
"I hope so." Yukino answered vaguely.  
  
"Nee-CHAN!" The girl almost shouted. "We're running late. Come ON!"   
  
"Hai." The girl then took Ruriko's hand and with a nod to the other girl holding the signboard, they ran off, she barely having time to wave at Ukiya.  
  
You better behave till I get back, Shun Ukiya, Ruriko thought behind a forced, sweet smile. Cause if Ruriko the sniveler catches you fooling around she's going to beat you up so hard it'd take more than the Gate of Life to patch you up.  
  
**  
  
"Get her!" One of the Core Invaders roared. "Get-"  
  
His commands were cut short when a streak of blinding white energy blew him apart; reducing him to red crystal. Black invaders turned to track where the energy bullet came from.  
  
"You idiots are stupider than I thought you were," a mocking voice echoed in the shadows. "Intelligent life? Please." Another flash; one more Core invader destroyed. This was too easy.  
  
Reina Chiharu quickly withdrew her sniper rifle before the invaders could see the glint of sunlight that would reflect off the barrel, and exhaled. She sank down and leaned against the wall.   
  
Intelligent life or not, they don't seem to give up easily. She took a Budweiser from her backpack that was stashed in the corner, along with her katana and Kenshin's daikatana...and the pile of clothes she had been planning to pay for with Kenshin's credit card before this whole farce began.  
  
It had been a quiet day at the mall....she was shopping for some new clothes when suddenly the mall cleared and almost half of the people inside transformed into invaders. She hid inside one of the top-floor shops...and since the invaders were concentrated on the ground floor, it gave her the perfect angle to pick off a few cores with her trusty, collapsible sniper rifle.  
  
"Okay, I'm going to fire another shot now, okay? Now, I really want to be absolutely clear on this.." Reina shouted as she took aim on one of the remaining Cores. "I'm reloading now..." she racked the bolt of her rifle, and slid the bolt home. She felt the bullet click.   
  
"Now my right index finger is around the trigger. You got that?" I'm already shouting, for chrissakes; surely my voice is going to lead them to me....or maybe invaders DO ignore audio signals....  
  
....or maybe they're just THAT stupid.  
  
She squeezed the trigger; a sound the equivalent of a silenced rocket launcher explosion rocked the whole mall. Another core invader vaporized into red crystal.   
  
Reina shrank back into the shadows, shaking her head in exasperation. Just like shooting fish in a barrel.   
  
She popped open the beer, took a drink, and wiped her forehead with the can. She checked the clip of her sniper rifle, and assessed the situation. *Well, if I'm not wrong...I think I've shot down at least four of their cores, and I've got at least three shots left....so...* she risked another look. *There's one core left...*  
  
Slowly, Reina stuck out her rifle and took aim. "And now the stunning, dazzling hunter draws a bead on her prey, which is dumb enough to stray into her sights...now her hand comes up to the rifle to rack another round into the chamber, careful that the noise might alert the otherwise unaware prey..." she said as her own hand slid the bolt home. "...and now..she's preparing to pull the trigger, to send her hapless prey to oblivion..." she centered her sights on the red spot amongst the black. "...she fires..." Reina pulled the trigger.  
  
The invader didn't fall. Instead, one of the black invaders crystallized into green shards.  
  
"Minor setback," Reina said under her breath, and took aim once more. "..she fires.."  
  
Another black invader vaporized into crystal.  
  
Reina cursed under her breath. *Maybe the sights are off...* She racked her final round into the chamber. "...and fires...."  
  
Black invader. Green crystal.  
  
"WHAT?!?" Reina shouted indignantly, unbelieving. Her shriek echoed loudly She threw down her sniper rifle. "I can't believe it!" She kicked the stock of aforementioned rifle, stubbing her toe, making her yelp in pain. "Itai! Hidoi..."  
  
After Reina had stopped jumping around, she sat down, sulking. *I can't believe it! That stupid Core dodged three of my best shots, and he wasn't even grazed!!*  
  
She reached over and grasped her katana. *Oh, well, there's always close combat...but first...* she dug her hands into her bag and took out a can of Budweiser. *Perfect.*  
  
Her gaze drifted to Kenshin's daikatana, or half-katana, half big ugly creepy sword. It was six feet long, the blade was three and a half inches wide, and reverse-edged. It was quite a chore lugging it around, and for the life of her she can't figure out how Kenshin was going to carry it, let alone fight with it.   
  
The hilt was strangely ornated with red and black dragons, the handle pure steel yet having the texture of mahogany. The saya was ebony, the inside coated with steel. Maybe she was just imagining it but sometimes the sword glowed with a black aura....  
  
"Hiko is a madman," Reina said, thinking aloud. Hiko was their master, the one who taught them Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, and this was his weapon. But to give it back to Kenshin and expect him to fight with a sword taller than he was.....more evil than he was...the sword he used as Battousai....  
  
Kenshin....  
  
Reina looked down at her beer can wistfully. Although the reports said he was dead....she knew that he was alive....and now she recieved word that he was living somewhere in this area. Her mission was to deliver the sword to him no matter what the cost...but then, she would do anything...anything...just to see Kenshin again...  
  
She wiped her eyes and laughed. At herself, or at Hiko, she didn't know.   
  
"Cheers, Hiko, you crazy s@#%." She raised her beer in the air for a toast, and then emptied the contents down her throat. Disassembling her sniper rifle with efficiency that would have impressed a drill seargent so that the pieces fit into her bag, she took the two swords, slung her backpack over her shoulder and jumped down from her killspot, landing in front of the invaders.  
  
"Where is the Angel Slayer?" The remaining core invader asked. Reina looked sideways to her back. The invaders had already surrounded her, and forming into something.   
  
"Do you mean Kenshin Himura, or this?" She held out the daikatana, one hand on the handle.  
"Because I don't see my Kenshin around....and if he was, he'd die before he surrendered. But if you mean this, I'd gladly give it to you..."  
  
The Core invader reached for it but she withdrew the Angel Slayer sharply.   
  
"Before you can get it, though," her irises glowed white instead of their normal brown color. "..you have to kill me first."  
  
Without warning, she jumped up into the air, tucking the Angel Slayer into her belt and unsheathing her katana in the process. When she landed, she threw the saya away. A quick glance said that she was a good twenty feet from the invaders.   
  
"Attack her." The invaders formed a large centipede, and towered over her with a good thirty feet.  
  
Silently she concentrated. This is for you, Kenshin....give me strength. Her gate opened, white energy swirling, before her.  
  
She dropped into the killing pose of the Gotatsu; something she learned after graduating from Hiko. She angled the blade flat, aimed for the core, and waited for the centipede to charge.  
  
The centipede lunged at her, diving, aiming to crush her with its sheer weight.   
  
..anything to see him again...  
  
She slowly recited her impending attack, more of keeping herself calm than for protocol. "Aku. Zoku. Zan---"  
  
She closed her eyes to stop the tears. *Stop it. Forget about him. Forget about everything. Just focus. Focus on the enemy. Focus on the fraction of the second where you must either strike or get out of the way-  
  
....Kenshin.....  
  
The world suddenly blacked out. Only the invader centipede remained.  
  
"ETHER STRIKE!"   
  
With all her strength, she thrusted her sword and body forward, spearing the centipede in point-blank range, just as it was about to crush her. Her sudden move was so quick, air was torn apart, exploding in all directions, blurring everything, screaming around her, pushing so strongly that Reina was mightily trying to stay on her feet.  
  
Then, amidst of the chaos, the tip of her katana, which was buried into the core, gathered energy....  
  
......and then a huge beam of white energy erupted from the katana, almost blowing Reina off her feet, blasting the centipede high into the air, where it vaporized into crystals.  
  
Reina dropped her katana and sank to the floor, her knees buckling. Panting, she struggled to catch her breath.  
  
*Ouch.* Reina winced as she tried to move her arms. They were burning, and tightening dangerously close to cramping. *I think I just permanently injured myself with that one, but nothing another can wouldn't cure....*  
  
She looked at the battlefield- green diamond shards, a by-product of invader death- slowly floated from the air to the ground. The sunlight made them sparkle.  
  
If Kenshin was here, he'd immediately take out his pencil and start....Reina looked down, tightening her grip on the Angel Slayer as an image of Kenshin smiling flashed before her eyes.   
  
I will find you, Kenshin.....I will. I promise.  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Ending notes:  
Thanks for Sn0wM@n and AkAbangbang(my Counterstrike buddies) for pre-reading and encouraging me to continue the fic even when I had writer's block and it was only eight pages long)  
  
Thanks for Ruriko-sama for prereading the fic as well, and saying "You know, it's not as bad as you think..." as well as pointing out to me various mistakes.  
  
Aslo a big thank you for Wings and Li Yilin, as well as other webmasters who had agreed to put up this fanfiction on their sites...  
  
Finally, thank you, the reader. You still with me here? 


	2. Masamune, the Sword of Hate

  
Gate Masters   
Part II:  
Masamune, the sword of hate  
Angel Slayer Battousai(dark_mew@edsamail.com.ph)  
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"Just one more fight  
and I'll be history....  
Yes, I, will straight out  
Leave your sh$#...  
And you'll be the one who's left..  
Missing me.."   
~Limp Bizkit, My Way  
================================================================================================  
Again, welcome to my sorry excuse for a Gatekeeper fanfic, Gate Masters. This is part 2. All standard disclaimers apply. I DON'T OWN Gatekeepers or RK.   
================================================================================================  
  
"Honestly, Himura, I don't know how you do it." Ukiya nursed his drink of Stolichnaya on the rocks. "I mean, all the girls of Tategami High talks about you all the time, and you're still single? Come on, I know you have a significant other..."  
  
"Iie, Ukiya-san....why talk about such things?" Kenshin laughed and patted his friend at the back. "I'm not like you, of course...settled down already in a nice house, with two kids and a nice wife....say, how is Shun, anyway?"  
  
A shadow flitted over Ukiya's face. "He just got mad at me for not fixing his toy aeroplane again, Kenshin. It's my work that gets in the way. I'm always thinking of how I'm going to make it up to him, but somehow, there's always something. New deadline, the workers want a raise...." Ukiya drank from his glass, swallowing the bitter liquid.  
  
"Be thankful you've gotten out of my line of work." Kenshin tipped his glass toward Ukiya's direction, and gulped down his ice-cold...water. He had been drinking for a while, and wanted no more.  
  
"Those were the days, eh?" Ukiya raised an imaginary gun in his hand. With a motion of his index finger, he blew imaginary battalions of invaders to kingdom come. "Me and you, always watching each other's back." He fired another round into the air. "Blasting invaders to pieces. I miss it all so much..."  
  
"Nothing's the same, Ukiya. Nothing went right after you got out. I'm the only remaining Gatekeeper now. The others were stationed in other parts of the world. And miss it? Ukiya, you already have a wife. She'd probably have an embolism watching you fight."  
  
"Yeah, but...you gotta admit, it is exciting to save the world everyday."  
  
"Well...yeah." Kenshin admitted. "Maybe it IS fun, when you're not rescuing hostages, or have Shirei telling you what to do. Other times, I feel as if I'm in the Bakumatsu again, being a shadow hitokiri."  
  
"It can't be all that bad."  
  
"Oh yeah? Everytime I crystallize a bunch another squad pops up, twice as big as the first one. And when I'm done with THAT, another bunch, then another...until either Shirei pulls me out or they just disappear."  
  
"I know, I know. I've seen the reports." Ukiya sighed. "Sometimes I ask myself if we're really making any progress. Things just seem to get worse by the minute."  
  
"Ukiya, my friend.." Kenshin smiled commiseratingly at Ukiya. "...you don't know the half of it."  
  
No one spoke for a while. Then---  
  
"Hey..." Kenshin suddenly asked, out of the blue. Ukiya looked at him curiously. "...you gonna drink that?"  
  
"Nah. I've had enough." Ukiya slid his glass along the counter, stopping exactly in front of Kenshin, who grabbed it and swallowed the contents, wincing slightly at the taste.  
  
"Ah. Much better." Kenshin stretched his arms.  
  
"By the way...how is Reina?"  
  
Now a shadow flitted over Kenshin's face, his eyes darkening.   
  
"She's recovering from the shock...God knows what Akuma and Kikai did to her."  
  
"They'll find the new generation soon enough, Kenshin."  
  
"I hope you're right." Kenshin looked down at his glass. "Shirei's coming, by the way, to discuss some things. Why don't you join us? I'm sure he'll be glad to see you." The door opened, and Shirei walked through, as if on cue. "In fact, speak of the devil..."  
  
"Himura. Ukiya." Shirei nodded to them in acknowledgement, and sat down next to them. He seemed all business.  
  
"Hello to you too, Shirei," Kenshin smiled. "Why don't you have a drink with us? Come on. It's on me."  
  
"I have no time for this, Himura." Shirei briskly put down a folder on the table and opened it. "Take it."  
  
"What-" Kenshin took the folder and read it. When he finished, he threw a burning look at Shirei. "You know I can't do this." He dropped the folder on the table. Curious, Ukiya took a look at it and understood why Kenshin's behavior changed....it was a notice of suspension.  
  
"Look, Himura, as much as I want Akuma dead too we're afraid of what this thing might do if you fail. Think of Reina...if she loses you..."  
  
"Leave her out of this." Kenshin hissed sharply. "You have no idea how much pain Akuma put her through....you can't just take me out-"  
  
"I've just served you an order from high command, Kenshin Himura. I can't do anything about it, and you can't, as well. I'm asking you as a friend, Himura, not as a superior officer....don't fight Akuma, please. I know you're upset---"  
  
"--you haven't seen me very upset." Kenshin interrupted Shirei harshly in a voice he hardly recognized as his own. Shirei and Ukiya were startled. Will Battousai come out of their friend again...?  
  
Kenshin took out his Gatekeeper License and slammed it on the counter with a resonant bang.   
"Maybe I can't do anything about this, being Kenshin Himura," His purple eyes glowed amber. "But maybe Hitokiri Battousai can." Kenshin thrust an uncounted wad of thick bills at the bartender and briskly left.  
  
"Kenshin! Wait!" Ukiya shouted to the departing back of Kenshin. He turned back to Shirei. "Why are you suspending him? You know he's our best...our only bet against..."  
  
"You don't understand," Shirei's glasses glinted in the dim light. "Upper Command knows that Kenshin is far more powerful than any Gatekeeper. If he goes to the invaders...well..."  
  
Ukiya saw the wisdom in Shirei's explanation, but nonetheless turned and ran out of the bar, looking for Kenshin. He saw him, trying to hail a cab.  
  
"Kenshin..." he put a hand to his friend's shoulder. Kenshin brushed it off.  
  
"Stay out of this, Ukiya, or you might get hurt. This is between Akuma and me and God helps anyone who gets in our way." A cab stopped in front of him. "Where to?" the cabby asked.  
  
"Tategami High," Kenshin replied. Ukiya was shocked. *Masaka....*  
  
"Kenshin, don't do this!" Ukiya shouted as Kenshin got in and slammed the door in his face. He hammered at the car window with his fists. "Don't you dare use that weapon again! Kenshin...!" The taxi zoomed off, leaving Ukiya in a cloud of smoke.  
  
"Himura..."  
***  
  
*He had better be here.*  
  
Kenshin pressed his hand against his shoulder, applying pressure to a slash wound earlier. One of the swordsmen that was guarding one of Akuma's strongholds had gotten lucky and tried to gash him with a spear, but he was able to dodge the initial thrust and deliver an soaring upward slash that sent his enemy flying. Without his head.  
  
*Of course he'll be here.* he looked at the pile of armored bodies strewn across the snow-covered plain. Blood stained the ground into a cherry red, much like the watermelon-flavored snowcones being sold downtown.   
*You eleminated half his personal guard. You destroyed two of his strongholds in one night. If he doesn't get off his ass get after you for all the damage you caused...well, you'd better cause some more.*  
  
Kenshin looked at his bloodstained daikatana. One more. Just one more. One more life to snuff out. One more evil to destroy. And then it's over.   
  
He stared blankly at his sword. *Maybe if I repeat that some more, I'll start believing it, since I've been lying to myself all this time. Do I really have the power to stop?* Kenshin raised his blood-bathed daikatana into the air. Hiko, see your baka deshi now. How he'd gone from a 15-year-old that only wanted a free government to a merciless murderer with no hope of death. Tomoe, see the man you scarred, physically and emotionally, kill everyone. Reina, see your own brother slaughter our own friends.  
  
Kaoru-dono....my promise...  
  
Jin-e was right all along.  
  
Reina....Kenshin smiled sadly as memories resurfaced. Although we were not of kin, I always thought of her as my sister...loved her as mine....  
  
He shook his head. *Remember you're doing this for her as well; You're killing the head invader before Shirei could fill her head with 'let's save the world because we are AEGIS' crap and die alone.* A voice pointed out.  
  
Kenshin turned as he heard some panicked voices in the distance. "Look! It's Battousai, the Angel Slayer! He's destroyed Akuma's...." the rest trailed off in the night.  
  
Hitokiri Battousai, the Angel Slayer. Keeper of the Gate of Death. The amber-eyed one who extinguishes stars. *How long, exactly-* Kenshin unsheathed the Angel Slayer and stuck it into the chest of one warrior who was trying to beg Kenshin to kill him, for he was dying so slowly-- *--has it been before someone called me with my real name?*  
  
No matter. The fact is--- Kenshin felt the presence of an enemy, a strong one----   
  
It ends here.  
  
Suddenly, a man taller than Kenshin appeared in the shadows; Kikai. Wearing western general regalia. And holding a double-edged broadsword.  
  
"Where is Akuma?" Kenshin asked, his purple eyes glinting amber.  
  
"He feels that you are unworthy to face him. So he sent me...to kill you."  
  
Enough of this blather. Kill him already. "Kikai...you have no idea how I don't give a damn." Kenshin said with a tired chuckle. He dropped into the killing pose of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, sword hand a wrist's breadth from the handle, battou-jutsu pose. "After I kill you, Kikai, your master's next."  
  
Kikai was inwardly stunned at the Angel Slayer's behavior. Normally, at battle, he gave the utmost respect for his enemy....but now----  
  
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu-"  
  
Without warning, Kenshin moved forward and struck so violently and quickly that Kikai barely had time to dive out of the way, dodging an immense black wave of dark energy that Kenshin's cursed sword generated. The dark wave crashed into the ground behind Kikai, and was obliterated, debris flying.   
  
Kikai stood up quickly. "Nice try--" he threw away his sword and formed a large gun in his hand. The Angel Slayer was lethal at close combat, not so from afar. He looked around for Kenshin. "Where--"  
  
"RYU-TSUI-SEN!!!"  
  
Kikai looked up to see Kenshin diving downward at him, eyes blazing yellow, the Angel Slayer held out horizontally, trailing black energy, aimed at splitting Kikai from head to toe. How he got to that height in such a short amount of time Kikai will never know. He reached up to shoot the plummeting Slayer but the latter was far more quicker, giving Kikai no time to aim. Kenshin's sword emitted a light so searing it blinded Kikai for a half-second, which was all the time Kenshin needed.  
  
*SLASH*  
  
Kikai heard Kenshin land, and the explosion of the sword's dark energy striking and obliterating the ground. Then, his vision cleared---  
  
---and saw that his gun arm had been cut off. Cleanly.  
  
"DAMN YOU!!" Kikai grasped his wound to stem the bleeding.  
  
"You should be thanking me." Kenshin said, shaking the Angel Slayer with a flick of his wrist, flinging the steaming blood off. "I changed the angle of my katana at the last second. Be happy it's only your arm." *Because it might have been your head. After all you've put me through- after all you've put Reina through....before this day ends, Kikai, you will suffer.*  
  
"DIE!!" Kikai roared, and sent black energy from his other hand streaking towards Kenshin. Kenshin, almost lazily, countered with his own, the two beams colliding with each other, pushing each other in the opposite direction.  
  
Kikai struggled to keep his beam from weakening, sweat and blood running down his forehead. How the Angel Slayer had gotten this powerful---more powerful than he was, and maybe even more than Akuma----he may never know.  
  
Suddenly, Kikai's beam failed, and Kenshin's black energy crushed through it, like an arrow, and hit Kikai dead-on the chest, pushing him backward into the air and into a tree, which exploded in dark waves.  
  
Kenshin smiled, one not of warmth but of cruelty, his eyes full amber, black energy swirling around him. He walked to where Kikai lay, grabbed him by his throat, and raised him off his feet.  
  
"How does it feel, Kikai?" Kenshin whispered harshly at Kikai. "You are about to die, just like me, just like Reina, only this time you're going to die before me...."  
  
"You will die....as well....Battousai..." Kikai struggled futilely to escape Kenshin's grasp. He laughed harshly, spitting blood. A dagger silently slid into his hand. "....and sooner than you think." He stabbed Kenshin in the stomach, and jumped back.  
  
Kenshin gasped sharply as he felt the metal pierce his flesh, and fell to his knees. He pressed his hand to his stomach, and felt blood...his blood....flow out hotly. Blinding pain blocked out the whole universe.  
  
Too late. Too late. Reina....  
  
"And now, Himura, our forces will have your remarkable sword. Pity....you could have joined us, being a Dark Gatekeeper. All in vain, Himura, all in vain." He picked up his broadsword and prepared to deliver the blow that would finally kill the Angel Slayer.  
  
...Reina...  
  
"When we bury you, Slayer, I will make sure you recieve the highest honors." He raised his sword.  
  
..forgive me...  
  
"Bury me...? What a notion." The kneeling Kenshin said in a dark voice, much unlike his own. Kikai's sword hesitated in midair, then went on its downward course again.   
  
With the speed of a rattlesnake, Kenshin grabbed the blade of Kikai's sword, never noticing that the blade had sunk into the flesh of his palm, and crushed it into fragments.  
  
"Gah! What-" Kenshin sent Kikai flying upwards with a standing roundhouse kick that had the force of an oncoming train.   
  
Now you suffer.  
  
Kenshin followed his descent, planted both feet into Kikai's chest and gave a massive push that sent Kikai hurtling down into the ground. He landed on his face, tasted the grainy, blood-soaked dirt.  
  
"Himura is asleep now." Kenshin said in a voice that defined death itself.   
  
"I am Battousai."  
  
Kikai tried to stand up, but Kenshin suddenly disappeared---  
  
---and appeared half a second later, directly in front of Kikai, and hit him with a massive kick across the jaw.   
  
"You've done a very bad thing, now..." Kenshin crouched and whispered in Kikai's ear.  
"..and for that I must thank you...." he looked at his stomach, which was ravaged with a deep cut.   
  
"Dear, dear....such a small wound...you could have done better, Kikai, but what is to be expected with carrion such as you?" He toyed with his own blood. "I think I've got a few minutes more before I disappear...."  
  
"How..." Kikai wiped blood from his chin as he staggered to get up. No mortal could ever take a wound like he had dealt and still fight. "You're supposed to be dying..."  
  
"In a few minutes, yes," Kenshin drawled, sheathing Angel Slayer. "But you see, I own the Gate of Death. Or rather, I AM the Gate itself. For that, I am immortal, in a sense that everytime my life force fails, I come back, a hundredfold more powerful. And to put it in a more succinct manner...." Kenshin tucked the Angel Slayer into his belt. "In killing me, you've only served to making me stronger."  
  
Kikai looked into the malevolent, cold eyes of the Hitokiri and for the first time, felt the devastating fangs of fear slowly ripping into him.   
  
"Even if you destroy me....I'll come back." Kikai formed blades of his arm. "Nothing can stop us! Not even your pitiful alliance to AEGIS!"  
  
Lazily, Kenshin touched his wound, covering one fingertip with crimson blood, and began to inscribe kanji into the air, which glowed a bright red. "See my power, Kikai. See how pitiful you think my power is. And remember that when I resurrect myself, when I come back from the afterlife, Kikai, you will see what Death really looks like." He opened his gate, which seemed to drink up the light around it. "Gate Assault...."  
  
He unsheathed Angel Slayer, held it above his head. "Dark Corona!"  
  
Waves of black energy swirled around him, then swam up his sword, gathering. Kenshin struggled to keep from releasing the energy. Wind screamed around him; torn by the force of the gathering energy. *Concentrate, dammit, or you'll blow yourself to pieces. Concentrate, just like you did last time, like you taught Reina...*  
  
...Reina...I'm so sorry.....  
  
The circle was complete. Black energy swirled around his sword with enormous force. With a strangled cry, Kenshin turned the blade down and stabbed it into the ground......  
  
......and, instantly, a globe of black energy surrounded Kenshin, ever expanding until it was a mile in circumference and height....  
  
Tenshi. Ansatsu. Ken.  
  
....and then it imploded, pummelling everything with dark energy, destroying, reducing everything in a three mile radius into nothing.....  
  
....and in the center of it all, Kenshin dropped, lifeless, his body disappearing into one strong glowing light, which flitted into nowhere. The Angel Slayer, the dark daikatana stood in the blood-soaked dirt, the only survivor.  
  
******  
  
"And then...and then he laughed at me...(sniff)....hey, are you listening?" The girl sitting next to Kenshin eyed him suspiciously in tears. Kenshin raised his hands in surrender.  
"Gomen, gomen de gozaru yo! I was listening...I was only reminiscing, that's all." He took her handkerchief and dabbed at the girl's eyes, careful not to let her tears blot out her mascara. "There, there..." He finished his sketch of her, rolled it up and gave it to her.   
  
"Try to hear his side of his story, de gozaru," Kenshin said gently, putting his pencil back into its case. ""Maybe you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Anyways, from what I've heard from you it seems that he cares for you so much. Don't worry."   
  
The girl looked at him, smiling amidst tears. "Thank you, Ken-san, for listening." She looked at her purse. "Oh! I...don't seem to have any money with me now....." she looked at Kenshin hesitantly.  
"Iie," was Kenshin's soft reply. "I don't mind-" The girl pressed a calling card to his palm.   
"Just send my company the bill. My secratary'll take care of it..." She leaned toward Kenshin, cheeks faintly pink, and planted a shy kiss at his scarred cheek.  
"Again...arigato, Ken-san.." The girl bowed, blushing now, and ran, portrait in hand. "Sayonara..."  
  
Kenshin waved at her direction, and turned his attention to the pile of calling cards in his duffle bag. Someday, somehow, he'll find the courage to speak up, and, God Forbid, actually CHARGE a customer for their portraits... *Now I'll have to use that bank account Shirei gave me...* "Yare yare.."  
  
"Ken-nii! Ken-nii!" Kenshin turned to see his two wards rushing over. "We have a customer!"  
  
"Oh? Who?" He looked to see a young girl, probably about seventeen, with pretty brown eyes, long brown hair kept in a rare yellow ribbon.  
  
"Konbanwa, Miss...?" Kenshin smiled at her. Surprised at his friendship, considering his somewhat scarred visage, the girl hesitated, then smiled as well.  
  
"Ruriko...." The girl said, bowing. "Ikusawa Ruriko."  
****  
  
"Come on, he's not much farther." The little girl egged Ruriko on. They had been walking for half an hour now...  
  
*You're a bossy little one,* Ruriko smiled as the little girl tugged on her fingers. *You were just about my age when Shun left..* Then, they saw a man, sitting on a bench next to a duffel bag, his red, messy hair tied back into a rough ponytail that hung at the back of the bench. *Foxtail...hmm...kawaii...* Ruriko giggled at the nickname. Foxtail. It seemed to fit.  
  
"Ken-nii! We have a customer!"   
  
The man turned, smiling at the two little girls, giving Ruriko a clear view of his face.   
He was probably about a little shorter than Ukiya, with long red hair, with the face of one that had seen too many battles, and deep purple eyes. Ruriko turned her head to look more closely, then she saw the strange scar on his left cheek, which didn't affect his visage in any way, it only made him look more mature. She tried not to stare, but there was something about him...  
  
His eyes lightened up as they fell on her, as if he had expected her to come. "Konbanwa, Miss...?" he said, startling her.  
  
"Um...Ruriko..." Ruriko bowed, a little embarassed. She felt as if she had been caught staring, which she was. "Ikusawa Ruriko." She looked up. "Foxtail, I presume?"  
  
That incited a giggle from the two girls. Kenshin smiled and shook his head. "Yare yare...kids these days. It's the hair, actually." He held out his hand, and Ruriko shook it. "Kenshin Himura, at your service for the night." *And what a screwed-up night it is...*  
  
Ruriko sat down next to him, strangely feeling comfortable in his presence. "Pardon me, Ken-san...but have we met before? I feel as if...."  
  
"Don't worry...I get that effect on most people sometimes. It's one of those traits that make people unique, ne?" He rolled off a sheet of clean paper from his duffel bag, clipped it into the board to make it stay straight, took out his pencil, glanced at Ruriko briefly and began to draw.  
  
Ruriko was amazed at how quickly Kenshin's hand danced across the paper; leaving a thin trail of graphite, drawing a picture as if he was merely tracing it. In seconds, he had imprinted a likeness of Ruriko's face, smiling, into the paper.  
  
"You seem to know your stuff," Ruriko said admiringly as he began shading. "Not even the top sketchers in my school could've..."  
  
"Well, I'm a bit older than the average high school student....or college, for that matter." Kenshin said lightly, erasing a nick. "I've had time to practice..." *Or eternity for that matter...*  
  
"No way!" Ruriko gave him a once-over again; he looked no more than a fourth year student. "How old are you, anyway?"  
  
"I'm thirty years old de gozaru..." Kenshin said mildly.   
  
"Really? Demo..." Ruriko squeaked in amazement. Thirty! Ruriko was expecting more of an eighteen, or maybe twenty...but thirty? And to look this good?  
  
Kenshin looked at Ruriko, exasperated. "Judging by your looks, you don't believe me."  
  
"Gomen! Gomen na sai..." Ruriko said, clasping her hands. "It's just...just..."  
  
Kenshin continued drawing. "Well? I'm waiting de gozaru."  
  
"You're kind of..." she gestured with her hands. "ummm...not tall enough.."  
  
Ruriko waited for Kenshin to reply, who was obviously offended but nevertheless kept on drawing. She waited.....the pencil stopped in midair....*Oh, Rurippe, you're such an idiot...why did you have to open your big-*  
  
...and then Kenshin chuckled. He continued.   
  
"Arigato..." he said, smiling at her. "Arigatou de gozaru yo! Lots of people tell me that. I thought you were going to say that I was too thin, my hair was too long, or something I really had no idea I had."  
  
Ruriko breathed in relief. "You scared me, you know!" she pushed him lightly on the shoulder, laughing, the tension slowly disappearing.   
  
"Again, people get that from me sometimes." *Or everytime.* "Besides, if I was angry at you, I would just finish this, ignore you, and walk away." Kenshin rolled up the paper and gave it to her. She reached into her pocket, but Kenshin shook his head. "That one's on me, and besides, my customers never do pay anyway."  
  
"Oh?" Ruriko twiddled the portrait in her hand. "Why?" She looked at Kenshin and inwardly grinned.   
  
"Because they forget."  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Most of my customers are...girls. Well, all of them. They talk to me, cry on my shoulder and ask me for advice. I try to help out as much as I can. They get caught up in telling me their stories that I can't even get a word in edgeways, and...well...you know the rest. But today may be the last time I'm sketching..."  
  
"And why is that?" Ruriko asked, concerned.  
  
"Oh, nothing life-threatening." Kenshin said, leaning back. "Just my past, coming back to haunt me..." He put his gear back into the duffel bag, zipped it up and hiked it up his shoulder. "Well, we'd better be going now, so..."  
  
"Ken-nii!" Ayame wailed. "We haven't even been on a ride yet!!"  
  
"Hai, hai, sumimasen de gozaru yo.." Kenshin raised his hands in defense. "Alright, we'll go on some rides...."  
  
"Can I come with you?" Ruriko asked. "I came here with some friends, they're probably waiting for me at the Carnival..."  
  
"Ano....well, if it's okay with..."  
  
"Yes! Take her!" Ayame kicked Kenshin's shin. "Let's GO already!!"  
  
"Hai, hai...suminai de gozaru...." Kenshin bowed meekly. Ruriko almost laughed, and took his arm. "Are you always this easy a pushover when it comes to girls?"  
  
"...Ano.."  
  
"Ken-nii....stop flirting with Ribbon-girl and step on it!!"  
  
"Oro..."  
******  
  
"He's here."  
  
Akuma raised an eyebrow, looking studiously at Kikai. "You mean the Angel Slayer? Kikai, he's dead....he destroyed himself, probably having the delusion that he can take you with him as well."  
  
"You saw how he destroyed nine of our strongholds in one night, Akuma." Kikai's eyes burned with conviction. "And that was after I dealt him a mortal blow that would have killed any man." *Any man....except him. He's no man...he's a demon...*  
  
"Well, I have heard legends about this sword of his, that bears his name," Akuma rubbed his chin. "They say that it was used by the gods to tip the cosmic balance of the universe...and that it had taken the soul of many an angel...and that whoever uses it will fall into darkness, to live forevermore in the shadows. But they're questionable...because.. .well..they ARE legends.."  
  
Kikai shook his head. "Akuma, believe me when I tell you this; this man is no ordinary Gatekeeper. And he has come back to bring about the next Apocalypse with that cursed sword of his!"  
  
Akuma narrowed his eyes. "Come come now, Kikai. No man can do that-"  
  
"HE IS NO MAN!!" Kikai exploded, both fists clenched in his fury.  
  
"Am I missing something here?" A slightly sarcastic voice said. Both turned to see Reijin, cleaning his pair of sunglasses with a handkerchief. "What's this about?"  
  
Kikai snorted ruefully. "None of your business, you pathetic-"  
  
A single shadow edge the shape and length of a katana embedded itself next to Kukai, missing him by mere inches. "You were saying?" Reijin asked, his gate open before him, hand ready.  
  
Kikai stood up sharply, seething, his arm materializing into a black blade nine inches long. He lunged at the dark Gatekeeper.  
  
"ENOUGH!!" Akuma yelled. The whole room shook. His eyes glowed with a dark green light. He motioned for them to sit down.  
  
"AEGIS found another Gatekeeper." Akuma explained, the glow from his eyes disappearing slowly. "And Kikai...is concerned."  
  
Reijin sighed, almost exasperated. "So what's new?"  
  
Kikai flinched.  
  
"It seems that AEGIS' new find is what you say, a bit more....stronger than the norm..."   
  
"So what?" Reijin shrugged, obviously not caring. "We outnumber the bastards a million to one...  
and surely Kikai-shogun could take care of another skinny little girl...or maybe that's just asking too much..."  
  
Kikai was about to protest with vigor that the Angel Slayer was not as harmless as another skinny little girl when Akuma silently sent him a warning.  
  
He does not need to know.   
  
"It's none of your concern, Kageyama." Akuma said, choosing his words carefully. "Just working out a few conflicts, that's all." He smiled. "You may go."   
  
"Very well..." Reijin made an ironic salute at Kikai, who looked at him through eyes burning with malice. He just shrugged with a smug smile on his lips, and walked out.  
  
Akuma waited until Reijin was out of earshot, and then turned his attention to Kikai.   
"Kikai, I'm giving you all the invaders you need. Assimilate if you need more. If what you're saying is true, then we must proceed quickly."   
  
Kikai nodded, made a salute, and walked out of the room. He looked at his arm....he had long replaced it with a hook -- the Angel Slayer's energy prevented Akuma from creating him a new one...it was as if the arm was permanently sealed, defiled...  
  
*All those years....Himura...I going to kill you, whatever it takes.*  
********  
  
"I'll need a signature here...here..and here..." The weaselly man pointed to a vague line in the piece of printed paper he was showing to Reina and went off to another customer.  
  
Reina soured, took out her ballpen, uncapped it and signed the paper. She had been walking for hours until she found a decent armory. The small Gunshop seemed to as good as it got in this old crappy town.  
  
She hammered the bell with her palm, almost breaking it. "Hey. Hey!" The manager came scurrying. "Yes? Have you signed-"  
  
"Here." She shoved the form into his face. He read them over quickly, and, satisfied, motioned for his attendants to close the windows.   
  
Reina looked curiously at the attendants who were scurrying around to close anything that would let in light. She turned to the owner, who was leafing through piles of acquisition forms. "Excuse me, but why...?"  
  
"Oh, them?" He gestured to his staff with a vague wave of his hand. "Just for security. See, some of the calibers we sell here are...how do you say....legally questionable." He looked up. "Well, how can I help you?"  
  
"I'd like a reload, some extra magazines...." She took out her sniper rifle and placed it on the counter. "...a check on the sights, maybe they're off, and if they are, a replacement would really help." She detached the scope. "I need a new case, by the way, the color of this one's hard to camouflage. Oh, and two boxes of armor piercing, two boxes of hollow point and three boxes of the normal stuff. All .357 Magnum." The owner just nodded, took her rifle, and gave her a number. "Umm..payment?"  
  
"Plastic." Reina gave him Kenshin's credit card. He nodded and rang up the register. "Comes to three hundred thousand." He gave her the receipt. "This may take a few hours, ma'am. Would you mind if--"  
  
Reina shook her head. "Iie. I'll just wait here."  
  
The owner shrugged. "Suit yourself." He started to dismantle Reina's rifle.  
  
Reina stood for a few minutes, her eyes critically examining the owner's movements, making sure he doesn't screw up her rifle in any way. Then, assuming that the owner knew what he was doing, and acknowledging the fact that the combined weight of her katana, Kenshin's Angel Slayer and her own bulging backpack was getting heavier and heavier by the minute, she went to the worn settee next to the counter and sank into the thankfully soft cloth-covered foam. She closed her eyes. *Maybe I'll nap a little,* Reina thought, yawning into the back of her hand. *I haven't slept for three days..."  
  
She fell asleep, silently dreaming.....  
  
...remembering....  
  
******  
  
"No...Kenshin...please! You...you can't die!!" Reina cradled Kenshin in her arms, who was lying on the ground, with a large slash wound. Blood was pooling underneath him. Not even Megumi can do anything now. "Kenshin...please..." She closed her eyes tightly, trying to block out the tears, which fell freely down her cheeks.   
  
...Kenshin...  
  
It was terrible. Ayame and Suzume were kidnapped by some assassin, hoping to lure out the Battousai out of Kenshin. When Kenshin found out...he rushed out of the dojo, not even bothering to say goodbye...he then rescued the two girls and defeated the assassin....but not after getting shot in the process... Reina found him dying slowly on the ground, his sakabattou lying useless beside him.  
  
"Don't cry...." Kenshin whispered. Blood trickled down the side of his mouth. "I'm glad that it's over..."  
  
"Glad?!?" Reina shouted, tears streaming. "Are you glad that you're leaving Kaoru? Leaving Ayame and Suzume? Leaving...me?....Alone?"  
  
"Of..course not..." Kenshin reached up with one hand and weakly brushed the tears away from Reina's eyes. "I'm not leaving anyone....I'll still be here...I'll be with you always..."  
  
"NO!!! Kenshin!! Please don't die! You're all I have left..." Reina sobbed, hugging Kenshin, not noticing that the blood was darkly staining her kimono.  
  
"Shhhh, Reina-chan...don't cry...." Kenshin reached up and touched Reina's hair, feeling it softly filter through his fingers. "Never cry for me....."  
  
Reina said nothing, mumbling incoherent words through her sobs. Kenshin slowly withdrew to look at her face, and she looked back uncertainly, eyes brimming with tears. He gave her a soft kiss on her quivering lips, and brushed back her hair.  
  
"People say that we are remembered by the gifts we give to our children." She once heard Kenshin say. "That's why I fought. That's why I killed, Reina. That's why I became Battousai. So that the children of today will not experience the hell that I lived in as a shadow, where power rested on the sharp edge of a katana...and live in peace. I know it sounds too good to be true...sometimes I believe no such thing ever existed, or ever will....but someone needs to try... and I'll continue to....even if I die."  
  
*And now he's dying,* Reina thought bitterly. *Dying right in my arms. He was trying to atone for sins that would curse any man into hell....sins that he commited willingly, so that the rest of us could live peacefully....  
  
...and now Fate wants to take him away.*  
  
"Aishiteru....Reina....please tell Kaoru... that I love... her..."  
  
Kenshin's wounded body suddenly went slack in her arms. The purple eyes that were full of life just now dimmed, devoid of any light.   
  
"Kenshin? Kenshin? Sonna......" She loosened her embrace to look at Kenshin's face...his eyes were closed...he wasn't breathing.  
  
"No...." She hugged him fiercely, sobs wracking her small frame. "Kenshin..."  
*Is this it? After all the times I've seen you and Kaoru together? I know you loved me, but only as your sister...  
....did I mean more to you as you meant more for me?....did you....  
  
...did you even love me...?*  
  
Reina heard the patter of feet coming towards them, and she turned to their direction.   
Ayame. Suzume.  
  
"Neechan..." Ayame kneeled in the ground beside them. "Why is Ken-nii sleeping on the ground?" She reached out with one hand and shook Kenshin's shoulder. "Ken-nii...Ken-nii..."  
  
"He's not going to wake up, Ayame-chan." Reina said in a shaking voice.   
  
He's not going to wake up.  
  
I should have followed him. If I thought this was going to happen, I....  
  
You're going to what? No one can help him now.  
  
Kenshin...  
  
You are no protector, a voice inside her spat. Remember when you fought him, but he didn't kill you, knowing that you needed someone---someone in your life, because you were alone, like he was, long before Kaoru came? You said you'd protect him too, if ever the time came when he needed you---but look at him now. He's gone forever.  
  
Gone forever.  
  
Forever.  
  
But there is a way....  
  
"Reina, I've heard about those powers you and Himura has..." Hiko told her one day, after he had sent Kenshin to fetch some water from the falls--"When one of you is injured, the other one must not use his or her power to heal the other, for like Ying and Yang, they will clash, and something unthinkable will happen."  
  
Screw Hiko. I have nothing to lose now.  
  
Reina stood up. Angrily, she brushed her tears aside. "Kenshin Himura, I will not permit you to die! You can't leave us! You can't leave me!!" She opened her gate, white energy swirling around her. "Ether Revive!"  
  
Her last vision was a dark hole opening up in front of them...  
  
...then.....all was darkness.   
  
"Miss! Miss!"  
  
*Aishiteru...Reina....*  
  
"MISS!"  
  
"Huh? What?" Reina snapped awake from her dreams, and looked around. She was still in the Gunshop. The man at the counter was holding out her rifle and the boxes of ammunition.  
  
"You fell asleep," The man opened the blinds, letting the moonlight in. "For about an hour or so."  
  
Reina nodded, and rubbed her eyes, slightly surprised to feel tears wet her fingers. She wiped them on her jeans. *That tears it. I'm finding Kenshin if it kills me in the long run. And then I'll kick his ass for doing this to me.*  
  
An afterthought took her. "By the way..." Reina asked the man as she packed the ammunition and her rifle into her bag, "...do you happen to know where Tategami High School is?"  
  
*******  
  
Shirei slowly sipped the coffee he had prepared himself earlier. Ochiai was already gone when he got back from the carnival--he had no doubt that she had handled the day's meeting with the efficiency he always wanted in the Far East Branch.  
  
His thoughts went back to Kenshin. How he reacted violently in the conversation, but finally acquiesced to join. Apparently, in the given situation Shirei had presented him with an ultimatum; go back to your old, killing ways and save the universe once again, or live in recluse, like a hermit, and live until the invaders took over.  
  
And you know as well as I do that I had done enough. Kenshin had said with pure malice. I had very well given my entire life to AEGIS. I gave my life to protect the people who might turn into what I protect them from any minute.  
  
He was true, though; during the full-scale war of AEGIS and the Invaders, Kenshin was one of the few Gatekeepers to tip the scales into their favor. He was like a machine then; being sent on missions day and night. Sometimes he even went so far as to go on missions even when seriously injured(much to the chagrin of his younger sister, Reina, and his two wards).  
  
Reina. Kenshin's younger sister, keeper of the Gate of Ether. The two worked devastatingly efficient as a team; not one invader stood alive when they were on the job. She was like Ikusawa at that time; smart, kind, and pretty, but Reina was a bit more daring than Ruriko was. Being a master at the ways of handling firearms, Reina became a bit more reckless as well, much like her brother.  
  
But that all changed when Kikai and Akuma kidnapped her.  
  
They were on a mission once-the objective was to neutralize a pack of invaders uptown---they were nearly finished when Akuma suddenly appeared and took Reina away. Kikai also appeared and fought Kenshin for distractionary purposes....Shirei vaguely remembered recieving a report that half of the abandoned area was destroyed...and Kenshin coming back to HQ, seriously injured. Shirei half-expected him to rage about, but Kenshin only sat there, as the medics patched him up, staring blankly at the floor, tears falling from his eyes.  
  
After that, though....Kenshin seemed to have no more tears to shed. He became his regular, cheerful self...but at night, he became pensive, always in deep thought, closing up into himself. Shirei guessed that he was plotting some kind of revenge, or a way to get Reina back. Many times he had caught Kenshin staring off into the distance, sword hand tightening into a fist. When he asked Kenshin about it, he smiled and denied it in a friendly but firm way.   
  
And he did get Reina back. Kenshin, along with Ukiya, led a team to one of Kikai's strongholds, after receiving a mocking challenge from Kikai himself....they found Reina, comatose and bleeding. Heaven knows what the invaders did to her. Nobody dared to ask.  
  
Suddenly, an alarm went off.   
  
"Report!" Shirei automatically shouted to one of the com-technicians.   
  
"A large group of invaders is heading toward the Carnival!" they shouted back, staring at the green map exploding with red dots on the large screen in front of them.  
  
"Contact the Gatekeepers! Inform them of their current situation and have all units prepped and ready!" He barked commands out to respective section leaders.  
  
So...Kikai's found out already....and now he's trying to eliminate Kenshin first...  
  
***  
  
***  
Yukino silently nipped at the big, puffy cloud of cotton candy Saemi bought for her, her eyes nonchalantly flicking from this to that, looking for Ruriko, then finally settling on Ukiya and Kaoru for a few minutes before looking away. Yukino rather found Ukiya's situation to be humurous; being fought over by two girls, one older than the other, and both having the same feelings for him. Nevertheless, they both acted like little children, like siblings.  
  
Keeping up with the group had been no easy task. They flitted about one stall from the other, playing games, winning prizes. Saemi and Fei won a small teddybear, about the same size as Hisame, and the two, grinning with cheshire cat grins, presented her with it, along with the cloud of cotton candy. Yukino had been unable to refuse. She carried the small teddybear along, cradling it, much to the chagrin of Hisame.  
  
Yukino took another bite of the cotton candy. She had never seen one before; and frankly, thought they were inedible. But after a few tentative bites, she found herself rather liking the taste, relishing how they melted into sugar in her mouth.  
  
Her mind wandered back to what happened earlier. Foxtail....she was sure she heard it before somewhere.  
*I think I gave someone that nickname....I just can't remember who...*  
  
"Minna-san! Hey! Over here!"  
  
Suddenly, someone waved at them, near the booth that sold onagiris. It was Ruriko, walking toward them with two small girls-probably the two that dragged her off earlier-and another person with long red hair, a small frame, and...and.... her eyes traveled to the man's left cheek as he came to view. A scar...  
  
*...masaka..crossed scars...*  
  
Foxtail....  
  
The half-eaten cotton candy fell to the ground, beside her feet.  
  
****  
They're here. Maybe forty, fifty, give or take five. Maybe three cores. All in attack mode. Kikai's not with them. Looking for me.  
  
Kenshin tightened his grip on his duffel bag, where his katana was hidden, and looked around for potential people that might start whipping out sunglasses at any moment and attack. The last thought disturbed him greatly.   
  
You've been spoiled these four years, you know, a voice chided him. Five years ago you could already tell who's going to be assimilated even before their minds get taken over, or in other cases, predict if they're going to attack or not. In the Bakumatsu, you would barely have been surprised. How can you forget at thirty what you knew at fifteen?  
  
He looked at his two wards, chatting with Ruriko, silently cursing himself.   
  
Baka--you're three years out of practice. Three years.   
  
Three years. My old shishou would kill me if he knew.  
  
But I'm Battousai, Kenshin thought, in spite of himself. Hitokiri Battousai. The greatest swordsman in Edo. I've either destroyed or killed anything and anyone in my path. And that was before my gate...and the Angel Slayer came. Surely I can-  
  
Surely you can what? The Angel Slayer's gone, and who knows what may happen if you even open your gate a little bit.   
  
It's not gone. It's just out there, somewhere. Besides, I can make it appear anytime I want to, with that incantation Reina taught me....  
  
Reina...  
  
She's safe, Kenshin reassured himself, looking down at the ground. Shirei told me. She's in an AEGIS Branch, far away from here, and she doesn't know where I am.  
  
Kenshin looked one more time at Ruriko, Suzume and Ayame, who were oblivious to the danger that drew nearer. Ruriko had found her friends, and were calling them, waving them over. They looked perfectly normal, typical high school kids. Out of the corner of his eye, though, he saw a white kimono flash by.  
  
Yukino...?  
  
Now I am getting old. I'm seeing things now.  
  
Never mind that. Now, the two million-yen question: Will I be able to protect Suzume and Ayame and try not to get killed in the process, unlike five years ago?  
  
I'll try, Kenshin thought vehemently under a sincere smile as Ruriko introduced him to her friends, names that he took care to remember. Names that somehow felt familiar. I'm not saying that I'll succeed, but I'll try.  
  
***  
  
"Ne, Ken-san. These are my friends from High School." Ruriko said as they met. "This is Shun, though we call him Ukiya." She gestured to Ukiya, who shook his hand. "Konbanwa."  
  
"Konbanwa de gozaru." Came the low reply.   
  
"...and this is Kaoru..."  
  
"Konbanwa de gozaimasu!"  
  
"..and this is Fei..."  
  
"Ni-hao, Ken-san!"  
  
"...this is Megumi..."  
  
"....."  
  
"...and this is Megane..."  
  
Ruriko went on, introducing each one of her friends to Kenshin. He seemed to take in each name she said, nodding and smiling in acknowledgement. Yukino was missing, though, but it was like her to disappear without warning. When she had finished introducing Bancho and Kenshin had recovered from the slap on the back the 'gang leader' gave him, Ruriko couldn't help but notice a certain change in Kenshin's mood. Although he was quite good at hiding it, it was as if he was watching out for something, darting quick glances here and there.  
  
"Daijobu desu ka, Ken-san?" Ruriko asked Kenshin as soon as Ukiya and the others were out of earshot.  
  
It took Kenshin a few seconds to answer.   
  
"Nani?" Kenshin slowly shook his head. "Hai....hai, Ruriko-dono. Daijobu...de gozaru." He looked up and smiled at her. "Just a little sleepy, that's all."  
  
"I'm not surprised," Ruriko admonished, sitting next to him. Her gaze drifted to Suzume and Ayame playfully chasing Fei with Saemi. "Taking care of those two....they're quite energetic for kids their ages."  
  
"They don't give me any trouble," Kenshin said, and Ruriko could detect a hint of protectiveness in his voice. "None at all."  
  
"Honestly, Ken-san. That kick Ayame gave you earlier..."   
  
Kenshin waved a hand dismissively. "They're good little girls. They even help me with the housework, and the laundry....well...maybe not with the laundry de gozaru..but they help me hang them out...and the cooking....but most of the time they burn it anyway...demo..."   
  
It wasn't long before Ruriko started giggling.  
  
"..Oro?"   
  
Gomen na sai, Ken-san, Ruriko snickered at his bewildered expression. Here's a man who actually likes the arts, loves children and can actually do his own chores around the house, not to mention take care of two kids like Suzume and Ayame...  
  
I wish Ukiya was like him. It wouldn't hurt to be a little like Kenshin.  
  
Ukiya...  
  
"Sumanai de gozaru, Ruriko-dono...did I say anything wrong?"  
  
Ruriko hastily stifled her giggles. "I-ie, Ken-san. Su-sumimasen." She said between gasps. "I just haven't met a guy who actually does his own laundry, and be comfortable in talking about it..."  
  
He blinked violet eyes at her. "A-ano..."  
  
"Daijobu." Ruriko leaned back and let the wind ruffle her hair. "I think it's very cute. Besides, I know a few guys who could stand to be a bit more...proper..." Her gaze drifted to Ukiya, Megane and Bancho, shoveling big handfuls of buttered popcorn into their mouths. Yare Yare...  
  
"They're still young." Came the soft, lonely reply. "Enjoy your childhood, Ruriko-dono...someday you'll look back at it, and how you miss it...never chastise anyone for enjoying their youth."  
  
Ruriko did not expect that. That was more like something Yukino or Megumi would say...and in the same voice tone as well. She looked uncertainly at Kenshin.  
  
"Ken-san, is something wrong...?"  
  
Kenshin looked back at her with something unreadable in his eyes. It was as if he aged ten years in a single minute.  
  
"Iia. As I said, just tired." He stretched his arms and bent his back and yawned as if to confirm it; Ruriko could hear the faint cracking sounds of joints.   
  
"Ow." Kenshin said, smiling wryly. "Body's not what it used to be....anyway, Ruriko-dono, can you keep an eye on Suzume and Ayame for a while? I need to talk to someone. I won't take long..." His voice trailed off, silently pleading.  
  
"I don't mind," Ruriko said, puzzled about Kenshin's sudden mood change. Kenshin nodded, bowed, grabbed his duffel bag and took off at a dead run.   
  
"Ne, Ruriko-san....where's Kenshin going?" Kaoru said, sitting next to her. "I wanted to ask him to sketch me too, but he left before I could ask..."  
  
"Something important, I guess." Ruriko said with a shrug. But what could be so important that he leaves his two children behind? Unless....  
  
Fei and Saemi sat next to Ruriko, hearts in their eyes. "Ken-san's just...so...so cute! His hair's longer than mine, but it's neat, not like nii-chan's... and his eyes...their color's like...like..."  
  
"Orchids..." Fei finished for Saemi. "And he's got that scar......and his voice...so dreamy...not like Bancho-san's, and certainly not like Megane's....kakkoii!!!"  
  
"Hey!!" The only three men in the group protested.  
  
Saemi and Fei stuck out their tongues at them in perfect inflammatory unison. "Biiii!! You're all just jealous!"  
  
"I, jealous?" Bancho yelled, indignant. "That Ken-san of yours looks so skinny and small I could probably...."  
  
Oh, Gods, don't, Bancho....Ruriko covered her face with a hand, hastily stifling a smile. You're setting yourself up for...  
  
"You'll what?" Fei jumped up and thwacked him on the head. "You said the same thing about Kaoru-chan! Right before she threw you into a wall! BAKA!"  
  
Ukiya burst out laughing. "She's got you there, Bancho," he said, in between gasps of hilarity.  
  
"Ukiya...not you, too?" Bancho said, looking remarkably like a landed fish.  
  
"Besides," Fei continued, wagging a finger bemusedly at the confused gang leader, "Kenshin's a swordsman. He would probably kick your butt with the flat end of a sword before you could even get close to him."   
  
"How'd you know?" Ruriko asked.  
  
"Simple." Ukiya answered, waving to his mom and Saemi as they went off, for it was already late- "He has callouses on the inner ridges of his hands, something you get for handling a sword and using it. I wouldn't be surprised if he turned out to be a very good one, or an assassin..."  
  
"Ansatsusha?" Ruriko's brow furrowed.   
  
"Well..."  
  
"Really Ukiya. Ken-san doesn't look the sort." Ruriko admonished. "He's only a freelance artist with two kids."  
  
"You really can't tell," Ukiya shook his head sagely, as if he was the expert on such things. "He could be a ninja for all we know. Or maybe a samurai." He shrugged. "Who knows?"  
  
Ruriko was about to respond when Suzume walked up and tugged at her sleeve lightly. "Ribbon-girl...where did nii-chan go?"  
  
"He's off to talk to someone, Suzume-chan. He's asked me to take care of you while he's gone."  
  
"Oh...." Suzume's bright face seemed to dim. "He's fighting again, isn't he." Her voice was a mere whisper.  
  
"Nani...? Fighting..again?" Ruriko's brow furrowed.   
  
"He promised," the little girl whispered, tears forming in her eyes. Her small frame trembled. Ruriko wrapped her arms around her and pressed Suzume softly to her.  
  
"Promise? What did Foxtail promise?" Ruriko asked, keeping her voice low.  
  
"He's fighting them again...he promised.."  
  
"Them?"  
  
"Ruriko-chan! Ruriko-chan!" It was Ukiya. Something was wrong. He tapped his watch. "Shirei just called. There's a large amount of invaders on the southern section of the park. We've been ordered to neutralize them. But there's something strange..." His voice trailed off.  
  
"What? What is it?"  
  
"Well, Shirei says that they're not doing anything. Inactive. As if they're waiting..."  
  
"The question is..." Megumi suddenly spoke up. "...what?" Her glasses glinted in the moonlight. "A signal, or an event....what?"  
  
"Shirei doesn't care about that, for some reason." Ukiya scratched his messy hair. "All he said was to exterminate them as soon as possible."  
  
"Demo... Ukiya, what about Ayame and Suzume?" Ruriko said, feeling Suzume's grip on her hand tighten. "Kenshin left them with us...it's too dangerous to..."  
  
Ukiya fretted over this for a second, then finally came up with a decision. "We have to. Ken-san left them with us, and it's our responsibility, after all."  
  
"Demo..." Ruriko said again, looking wistfully at the little child whose eyes were already shiny with unwept tears.  
  
"Look. I'm sure Ken-san has a good reason to go, and I certainly know that a battlefield is no place for children." Ukiya adjusted his gloves, something which he always did before a fight, and now it became sort of a habit.   
  
"But Ken-san didn't know we were Gatekeepers, or that we're the constant target of invaders. If we leave them here, with no one watching them, who knows what might happen? We take them along. Now let's go. Megane-kun, contact the base and request for backup if necessary."  
  
The others saluted sharply in perfect unison. "Affirmative! AEGIS!"  
  
*****  
  
I shall not fear.  
  
Kenshin slashed the air with violent conviction.  
  
Fear is the mind-killer.  
  
Without warning, Kenshin jumped straight up into the air, sheathing his sword, and flipped, landing exactly three metres away from the spot he jumped from, and from a split-second recovery, savagely decapitated an imaginary Kikai with an upward battou-jutsu strike.  
  
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.  
  
Barely breathing hard, Kenshin's whole body tensed, and, twisting around, ripped his sakabattou out of its saya and violently sliced the air behind him in a seemingly fluid motion.   
  
When I look in front of me I shall not see my fear. For when I see my fear I will close my eyes. And when I open them I shall not see it, for I have destroyed it.  
  
Obliterated it. Destroyed it with my own hands, with the help of no one.  
  
---then.....and only then....--  
  
I will fear no more.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Kenshin stepped out of battle-stance, savoring the feel of battle-pitch singing in his blood for the first time in three years. Sharply flicking his sword downwards at his right side with his fully extended arm, he raised the sword, slid its cutting edge along the mouth of the saya and then slid the katana home. The assassin's version of chiburi, Kenshin noted with morbid fascination.   
  
Hitokiri Battousai mentally saying the Litany of Fear. I think Shirei would just laugh at this one.  
  
No, he won't laugh, he'll just blink. Well, Ochiai might. Reina would probably die laughing.  
  
He was certain they would follow them here; it was a secluded spot, where condemned rides were scrapped. Lots of hiding places around, and far enough from the crowds that whatever ensues will just be drowned out by the Carnival's music.  
  
Kenshin started to reach into his duffel bag, stopped for a moment before reaching in again.   
Never did figure out that I was going to use it now, he thought, pulling out a .44 Magnum Desert Eagle from the bag, along with a few magazines. It was Reina's own, customized for accuracy and firepower. She had presented it to him on his birthday, a strange gesture on her part(since he didn't actually give her anything on hers) saying that he'll probably need it sometime.  
  
And that time is now.   
  
Aiming experimentally, he adopted an stance that Reina commonly used; the gun held out arrogantly at a point-blank range with the other hand supporting underneath the butt of the gun. The Magnum felt ungainly, uncommonly heavy for a sidearm. How Reina shot it like it was only a light Heckler and Koch .32 he would never know. Shrugging, he holstered it.  
  
After this is over, I'm going to apologize to Ruriko-dono. Running off like that, leaving Ayame and Suzume behind....some guardian I'm supposed to be.  
  
That is if I live through this.  
  
A deep, rumbling noise thundered behind him.  
  
Here they come.  
  
Kenshin barely moved as invaders solidified from the shadows, their emotionless, spectacled faces shadowed by the wide brims of their hats. Their spectacles glowed eerily bright, reminding Kenshin of some twisted vampire from a dark age. All of them carried a large brown leather bag on their left side, a parody of a suitcase, which really contained their weapon, an invader-frequency emitter that destroys with ring-like shockwaves.   
  
They haven't changed at all. Not one bit-- just like how I remember them. Not as if I care -- an invader is an invader. Evil is evil. Nothing will change that.   
  
Evil is evil..  
  
Just like me.  
  
A core invader, garbed in blood-red clothes, stood in front of Kenshin, the invaders readying their weapons in perfect military unison.  
  
And here comes Satan himself.  
  
"Himura. The Angel Slayer." The Core said flatly. It was not a question - more like an insult.  
  
Kenshin smiled, feeling Hiko's sardonic smirk slide into his face.   
  
"Last time I checked." He shrugged. "Tell me, Kikai, since when did you start hiding behind your cores?"  
  
The Core stepped back, as if surprised, but no emotion showed on its stone-like face.  
  
"Of all the invaders...you were the only one who referred to me by my last name."   
  
Kenshin silently drew the large pistol out of its holster and one-handedly aimed it at the Core's head.   
  
The Core didn't flinch when Kenshin thumbed the safety off.  
  
"Coward."  
  
Kenshin fired a single shot, the gun kicking in his hand; the large slug blasted out of the gun in a deafening explosion and missed the Core's head by mere centimetres, crystallizing an invader behind it. The spent cartridge flew and plinked on the floor, smoking.  
  
Silence. Then----  
  
The Core's emotionless face twisted and morphed until it mirrored Kikai's harsh visage.  
  
"Himura....so you are back." Kikai sneered, baring his teeth in a cruel parody of a smile.   
  
"Of course I am." Kenshin lowered the pistol. "I still haven't made you suffer yet."  
  
Kikai smiled and shook his head, almost exasperated. "Himura, look around you. More people are becoming soft. They desire things they will never have, and would do anything to get them. And we grow stronger, everyday, feeding on their desires. You should have wiped us out long ago, when we were still weak. You could have stopped us then- but you..." Kikai paused, a sneer twisting his lips, "...like the worm that you were, and still are, let us live. Now...we are invincible. There is nothing. Absolutely nothing you can do to stop us."  
  
Kenshin shook his head. "Iie. You're all nothing but parasites. And you're not invincible." He shrugged again. "I am."  
  
Kikai laughed directly at the Angel Slayer, mocking him. Kenshin didn't blink.   
  
"And what makes you say that?" Kikai asked.   
  
"Simply this." Kenshin raised his left hand before him. His gate opened, black energy eminating, swirling, on the palm of his outstretched hand.   
  
Hear me, the cursed one who is destined to wield you.   
  
Come to me now and let me avenge.  
  
"Tenshi."  
  
Come to me now. Come to me, so I can kill. Destroy. All that I hate.  
  
I offer my tainted soul to you.  
  
Come to me--  
  
"Ansatsu---"  
  
And let me slay again.  
  
Kikai's eyes grew wider. Not in amusement, but in terror at the realization of what Kenshin was about to do.  
  
No--  
***  
  
Reina watched, in both relief and in horror, as the Angel Slayer dematerialized before her very eyes. Relief that Kenshin was still alive, for he was the one-- the only one-- who could summon the sword....Horror that Kenshin was going to use it...  
  
Damn you, Kenshin.....why now? WHY?!?  
  
Reina hiked her bag up her shoulder and started to run.  
  
Kenshin....  
  
***  
  
"--Ken."  
  
No sooner than Kenshin had said the word the earth beneath them started to rumble, as if a long-sealed monster waking up from a deep slumber. An unearthly growl came from somewhere, Kikai couldn't just place it....then he suddenly realized that the growls were coming not from the ground, but from Kenshin's gate...  
  
...and stepped back when he saw a pair of slitted eyes, glowing bright red, open in the darkness of the Gate of Death, staring right through him. Eyes, with no pupils, only red, demonic, as if owned by some beast of myth, from the depths of hell.   
  
Suddenly, a large serpent-like dragon, black and demonic with eyes burning like the fires of hell-- apparently the owner of the eyes Kikai saw earlier, blasted itself out of Kenshin's gate, the ground shaking as it bellowed its thirst for blood......  
  
Kikai took another step back as he watched the dragon fly and circle around Kenshin, the air torn by the dragon's flight. Kenshin simply raised his right hand up into the air, as if to reach for something.   
  
The dragon, seeing this, flew up into the air, right above Kenshin's right hand, bellowed one final, blood-curdling roar and then exploded in a blinding light that forced Kikai to close his eyes.  
  
When he opened them, he saw a long object...no, a daikatana, fall from the air, spinning end over end, from the exact same height where the dragon had been...  
  
....and was caught by Kenshin's right hand.  
  
Kenshin lowered the daikatana and held it out to Kikai. "Remember this?" He asked, although knowing full well he didn't need to.  
  
Kikai's eyes widened as the recognization of the daikatana's identity sank in.  
  
"Sore wa...."  
  
The circle is now complete. The dark soul, once broken, is now together.  
  
Without warning, Kenshin one-handedly drove the end of the daikatana, still sheathed, into the ground with ease. The sound of cement being crushed abruptly pierced the silence.  
  
"The Angel Slayer." Kenshin leaned upon it as one would a staff, a hand upon the handle. "I haven't summoned it for quite a long time, and I didn't know if I could--but there you are."  
  
Kikai gritted his teeth, the initial shock of seeing the Angel Slayer giving way to frustration, hatred, and most of all, fear. Frustration that the Angel Slayer had come back from the dead....hatred, for the enemy that had humiliated him in countless battles was still alive....and fear...  
  
Fear...  
  
Kikai had once seen the Angel Slayer's power at its fullest, and he had barely survived....  
  
It was an ambush. Two thousand invaders with five cores surrounded the Angel Slayer and Reina. Then, one core made the fatal mistake of striking Chiharu first, not Himura, who took the brunt of the blow. But in shielding Reina, the seal of the Angel Slayer was broken, releasing its uncontrollable bloodthirst...  
  
The seal, apparently a talisman wrapped under the Angel Slayer's handle, imbued with the Gate of Ether to neutralize its dark power, was torn by the blast, unleashing the sword's capability to possess its owner and magnify its owner's violent side, or in Kenshin's case, Hitokiri Battousai.  
  
It was total carnage. Not one invader survived to teleport back. What took two weeks to assemble and assimilate was destroyed in a matter of seconds. Kikai remembered Kenshin summoning about twelve dragons exactly like the one earlier....and that Kenshin's eyes blazed a different color then -- a bright red. Kenshin only stopped when the last invader lay broken under his katana, and, according to the spies he had planted in AEGIS, went into a coma afterwards.  
  
And now it's back. The only Slayer known to exist.  
  
And the strongest.  
  
What now, Akuma?  
  
Are we defeated?   
  
Damn you, Himura. Damn you to the deepest hell --   
  
-- to MY hell --  
  
"That infernal sword means nothing." Kikai hissed sharply with a violent sweep of his left arm, his voice shaking with rage, piercing the tension-filled air. "We are invincible, Himura. We have changed. We have EVOLVED. You have no idea how many civilizations -- planets -- dimensions -- have fallen before us. How could a single Gatekeeper stop our invasion? Im-"  
  
"I am no Gatekeeper, Kikai. Have you forgotten?" Kenshin's eyes bore upon Kikai's, piercing deep into his soul. "In fact, I gave you a scar -- so that you wouldn't."  
  
Kenshin tilted his head to the side, staring at Kikai.   
  
"And it seems that someone had spared me the task of giving you another.....I thank the lucky bastard who did....but knowing you, you've probably killed him..."   
  
Kikai's, or rather, the Core's hand reflexively jerked up and felt the jagged cross etched on its face....a souvenir from the Angel Slayer himself...when the seal was broken...  
  
...and the other was from the human named Ukiya.....  
  
Irony. How cruel it is.  
  
"K-kisama...." Kikai swore.   
  
Kenshin seemed to smile wider.   
  
"I was going to give you another, right after I made sure Reina was safe...but you teleported away before I could even draw my sword.."  
  
You are now marked, like I am. Scarred, like I am...  
  
Reaching down, Kenshin grasped hold of the Angel Slayer just below the hilt and pulled, lifting it up.   
  
I am no Gatekeeper.  
  
"I wanted you to remember me....the lives you have ruined...Reina...Ukiya....the people you've killed...the people you've assimilated..."  
  
Kenshin tucked the Angel Slayer into his belt, below the sakabattou, and with infinite slowness, drew the reverse-edged sword from its saya, a soft, almost seductive sound issuing from it as the blunt edge slid against the saya's metal inner sheath...a sound Kikai had heard so many times...and feared...  
  
The moon shone off the blade, a crescent of light in the darkness, inviting.   
  
"...to remember that you're fighting me."  
  
I am a Gatemaster.  
  
"Ikuzo." Kenshin said coldly, eyes hard.  
  
************************************************************************************************  
To be continued.....  
************************************************************************************************  
  
[Unit Two-One][Angel Slayer]  



	3. Eternal Darkness(rough draft)

Gate Masters  
  
Chapter Three:  
  
Eien Ankoku  
  
dark_mew@edsamail.com  
  
============================================================== =========  
  
Author's note: I'm really, really very sorry - this was supposed to be uploaded on May 4 -  
  
I apologize to Miko-chan, Hirumi, Anti and so on and so forth - I'm a lazy bastard. I know.  
  
============================================================== ========  
  
"You want my sensitivity,  
  
You try to get away from me..  
  
You want my sensitivity,  
  
You try to get away from me..."  
  
-SlapShock, Get Away  
  
The forest's edge was as dark as he remembered it to be - even in the sunlight. The trees were rotting to the point that the merest touch could crumble a tree trunk and topple it. There were no birds to speak of, no animal of any kind - silence was upon them like a heavy curtain. The air smelled not of life - but of nothing. Scentless. Empty air - no smell of trees or fruit or anything. It was a place devoid of life - a place of death.  
  
A place fitting to seal the Angel Slayer.  
  
Sealed? Hiko almost laughed. Sealed? Some things cannot be sealed - it must be released soon.  
  
Hiko glanced at the boy following him. Kenshin.  
  
This is wrong. He must never touch it. Never wield it. He musn't - he can't. He'll be cursed forever - just like you - surely you can spare him - spare him from carrying the burden -  
  
He is the only one who must - the only one who can.  
  
Damn you, Hiko cursed himself. Damn you for corrupting this boy's soul.  
  
What is one life...compared to a million?  
  
It matters when one has the ability to change the world.  
  
They had finished training earlier that usual, the session ending with the boy actually scoring a blow that would have been fatal if Hiko hadn't dodged at the last minute.  
  
Hiko and the boy had been fighting near the waterfalls - the boy was trying desperately to block each and every one of Hiko's well-aimed strikes - it was then when the boy, with surprising speed, executed a Ryu-Sho-Sen, knocking Hiko's sword up and away from him - Hiko staggered back, recovered and assumed a defensive pose - but it was too late.  
  
The boy was gone.  
  
Hiko whirled around to see Kenshin behind him, crouched low in the killing pose of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu...and the look on the boy's eyes - Kenshin's eyes - both terrified and awed Hiko as the boy lunged and tore his sword violently from its saya in a motion so quick and powerful that the water around them exploded in all directions, the vaccuum blasting everything in sight, blowing Hiko off his feet, hurling him painfully into the waterfall's basin.  
  
And Kenshin was smiling.  
  
Two steps, Hiko thought crazily, amidst the chaos. He took two steps...  
  
Everything went mute after that, seemingly in slow-motion, sluggish and muffled - Hiko remembered Kenshin shaking his head, as if just coming out of a trance, and seeing Hiko, dropped his katana and sprinted after him, concern and worry contorting his face, his mouth making the same shapes over and over again - then was a slight pressure at his neck, probably the boy feeling his pulse - and then, he felt the boy heave him onto his back, almost toppling under Hiko's bulk, and slowly carried him to dry land.  
  
A blood-stained talisman, yellowed with age, crumpled under Hiko's feet.  
  
The boy never knew what he was doing, Hiko later found out. It had seemed that Kenshin lost approximately two seconds of his memory - he remembered Hiko lunging at him - and then, nothing. No memory of executing the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu Ougi - no memory of making a move that would have killed him.  
  
They came to a stop in front of an old shrine - doors plastered with the same bloody talismans. Reaching out, Hiko peeled one off the shrine's wall, felt it.  
  
The blood -used as the ink - was still as wet as the day the talismans were placed.  
  
Hiko crumpled up the talisman.  
  
Never let it get into enemy hands, Seijuro...his master once said. It must be kept hidden. It must be kept sealed - only release it when you have found a soul strong enough to carry its burden, so the world would not suffer it..  
  
"Kenshin."  
  
The boy looked up at him. "Shishou?"  
  
"Wait here. I have something to attend to."  
  
If Kenshin was at all surprised at his master's words, he didn't show it. He merely nodded.  
  
"Hai."  
  
Taking a deep breath, Hiko unsheathed his sword, and slowly cut the talismans sealing the shrine's door shut, one by one, each time muttering a silent phrase - one asking for forgiveness, pardon, and protection.  
  
Then, when all of the paper talismans were cut, the door suddenly opened, as if in its own accord.  
  
Forgive me, Kenshin. But only you can save us.  
  
You, and no one else.  
  
Forgive me.  
  
"Tenshi."  
  
Hiko raised his left hand, palm facing the shrine.  
  
"Ansatsu."  
  
Come to me now, bringer of death - I have found my successor.  
  
"Ken."  
  
Then, unexpectedly, abruptly, a large serpent-like dragon blasted its way out of the shrine, up into the air, demolishing the dilapidated hut in the process, igniting it like a bonfire. The dragon, seemingly made entirely out of black flame soared into the air as if in celebration that it had been freed.  
  
I have found you a new soul to burden your evil with.  
  
Then, the dragon, stopping in midair, dived toward Hiko in such blinding speed that Kenshin was sure that it would crash into him - the dragon sped closer, its black body clashing with the pure blue sky it swam in -  
  
And then, it disappeared, and in its place fell a large, monstrous daikatana. It fell and implanted itself into the earth with a heavy thud. The blade was black, and seemed to glow with a crimson aura - as if it sucked the light from around it. It was about as tall as Hiko - and its handle seemed to be made of metal.  
  
"Ano...Shishou.." Kenshin began.  
  
"Take it." Hiko said, his hand dropping. "Take the sword."  
  
Kenshin didn't move.  
  
"I said take it." There was an edge in Hiko's voice.  
  
Silently acquiescing, Kenshin walked forward. The blade, up close, reflected Kenshin's face - and looked too ungainly to wield, at least for him - surely Hiko wasn't suggesting -  
  
He reached for it, and just as the tip of his forefinger touched its cold handle, it vanished into thin air.  
  
Kenshin looked around in puzzlement. "Shishou..."  
  
It was then that Kenshin noticed Hiko look older than he was, wearier, sadder. As if something he dreaded suddenly came true.  
  
The only proof that the Angel Slayer had chosen a person is by summoning it. If the Angel Slayer comes to him, than he had already been cursed with it.  
  
"Um..anou...did I do anything wrong?" Kenshin asked.  
  
Hiko shook his head. "No, baka deshi, you didn't - I'd be surprised if you did. Anyway, what I want you to do is -"  
  
Suddenly, a hot, searing pain throbbed in Kenshin's head, so painful that Kenshin almost fainted - but suddenly as it came, it disappeared.  
  
"-and say Tenshi Ansatsu Ken. Boy, are you with me?" Kenshin heard Hiko's voice take that sardonic edge again, and straightened up.  
  
"Hai, shishou. Wakarimashita."  
  
He raised his left arm, just like his master did, and muttered the phrase that suddenly he felt compelled to say. Suddenly, the world went black, and then --  
  
***  
  
His first reaction was surprise.  
  
He never knew it was really going to work - it was five years since he had summoned the sword to his side. He had thought that he would fail, nothing would actually happen, he would only stand there, with one arm raised, like an idiot...He had thought it was already destroyed, the sword, and that it would never come back-  
  
-that he would die a very painful death-  
  
-but the dragon came, just as quickly, just as savagely, blasting out of his gate, in all its dark magnificence, bellowing out its rage, its blood thirst -  
  
HIS rage, HIS bloodthirst -  
  
-just like five years ago.  
  
Come to me now and let me slay again.  
  
The dragon spiraled around him in wide arcs, flying about him, almost dancing in the wind, as if exulting in its rebirth.  
  
Then, as the dragon transformed into its true form and dropped back into his hands as a long daikatana, Kenshin saw fear in Kikai's eyes.  
  
Fear me as you did the last time we fought. For I will destroy you and everything that you have created.  
  
For I am Kenshin Himura. Hitokiri Battousai.  
  
The Angel Slayer himself.  
  
****  
  
The boy shook, half in fear, half in awe as the sword materialized right in front of him.  
  
"Shishou..." the boy whispered almost incoherently, shakily. "Sore wa..."  
  
"..is the Angel Slayer." Hiko finished for him. "The demon sword itself."  
  
Kenshin shook his head. "But that's only a - "  
  
"-legend?" Hiko cut him off, snatching the sword out of the air and stabbed it, blade first, into the ground in one smooth motion. "It's a legend because people chose it to be. They didn't want to believe that such a cursed object exists."  
  
"But - why?"  
  
Hiko sighed. "The Angel Slayer has the power to do the most unimaginable acts of destruction. The very essence of death is forged into its blade. With it, one man could destroy millions in a single touch. And that's why - " Hiko gestured to the smoldering, blood-soaked talismans around them, "-we, the masters of Hiten Mitsurugi, are tasked to keep it away. So that..."  
  
"...the world shall not bear the burden, the burden that is..." Kenshin looked at Hiko, puzzled. "...the Angel Slayer."  
  
Hiko looked at him curiously. "Now where'd you pick that up?"  
  
"I don't know..." Kenshin mumbled, looking at the blade. "It somehow just came to me."  
  
Hiko fell silent.  
  
Kenshin looked up. "Ano...these talismans.."  
  
"Oh." Hiko bent over, picked one up and touched the scarlet kanji inscribed upon it, smudging it. "Yes, this is blood. No other seal could contain the Angel Slayer. So one female Hiten Mitsurugi master used her blood as ink - she was the Angel Slayer's owner then."  
  
"What was her name?"  
  
Hiko grasped the hilt of the daikatana. "Sakura. Chiharu Sakura. One of the best swordsmen in Edo - and she cooks a mean bowl of ramen." Hiko smiled at the memory. "Her kid's probably about your age, too - girl named Reina. Sakura's probably teaching her as we speak." Hiko stood up.  
  
"But - why not just give it back to her? Why does it have to be mine in the first place?" Kenshin demanded.  
  
"Because the sword caused her to kill her husband, that's why." Hiko's stare was now burning - penetrating even. "The Angel Slayer took control over her, one morning - and before she could come to her senses..."  
  
Visions of blood splattered on the tatami floor.  
  
"...she had already killed him."  
  
Hiko regarded the sword coldly, took it out of the ground and tossed it to Kenshin. "And now it's chosen you as its new master. Congratulations."  
  
Kenshin silently caught the blade with one hand, grasping the handle expertly.  
  
The sword felt as heavy as it looked - but unlike in the stories Kenshin had heard when he was still young, there was no surge of power, no sudden feeling of strength or invincibility. It felt the same as holding a normal sword.  
  
"Shishou..." Kenshin started.  
  
As if reading his mind, Hiko chuckled. "Of course you can't feel its power yet. You're too young for that - your body won't be able to handle it. No, the Angel Slayer needs a mature host - so it'll wait until you've reached a suitable age before letting you harness it."  
  
Kenshin nodded again, half-listening, while considering Hiko's statements earlier.  
  
The Angel Slayer chose me....  
  
"Chosen me?" Kenshin asked, brow furrowing. There was so many questions he wanted to ask. "How did - "  
  
"You summoned it, it came to you. It would have just killed you otherwise." Hiko said curtly, his eyes boring into Kenshin's. "Beware, Kenshin. The Angel Slayer has chosen you as its new owner - and it's your job to keep it that way, and never the other way around."  
  
Never the other way around.  
  
"Hai, shishou." Kenshin grasped the sword tightly with both hands, letting its flat edge rest on his shoulder. "Wakarimasu."  
  
"I'll try to carve a sheath for that tomorrow," Hiko said as they walked back to the path. "Not many people would take kindly to an unsheathed black daikatana." Kenshin nodded.  
  
"Remember what I said, Kenshin." Hiko reminded him as they arrived at the hut. "Remember. Never let the sword take control."  
  
Never let the sword take control.  
  
***  
  
Shirei looked with growing apprehension at the large view screen in front of him.  
  
Maybe Kenshin Himura can't - but maybe Hitokiri Battousai can, Kenshin's words sprang unheeded from his mind.  
  
The view screen of AEGIS was in fact the most useful tool in the Headquarters. It showed almost everything, and from it, countless commanders before Shirei had studied Invader attack patterns, analyzed Invader formations, Invader hiding places, Core weaknesses and the like. Hooked up to a sattelite Sputnik AEGIS Russia had donated, it has been the proverbial 'Eye in the Sky' of AEGIS Far East.  
  
Shirei sat down on his seat with a sigh. Much as he liked to admit it he was too old to fight. Of course, being thirty- five seemed hardly over the hill - but Kenshin, along with Reina, had insisted that he'd be better off in the HQ instead of rather in the field, after getting the promotion to Commander. No sense breaking your back in grunt work, Kenshin had said chidingly. You're the master tactician here. Leave the manual labor to us.  
  
Shirei objected, of course. He liked to fight alongside them - his team, his friends, in a battle that didn't seem to end. But after several hints and threats(Reina even threatened to put a bullet through Shirei's spine, so that "you'll stay in that goddamn seat whether you like it or not!"), Shirei had finally acquiesced.  
  
Shirei turned back to the screen.  
  
The screen blinked as it showed Shirei a top-down view of the park section where the invaders were detected. Bright red dots had been gathering there, disappearing and appearing. But now, they were there, all at once, covering almost half the entire screen. One red dot stood before those dots - and it seemed to glow brighter than the rest - Kikai, no doubt.  
  
And in front of the dots, a little distance ahead of them was a green dot, glowing defiantly, alone, a single soldier against an entire army - and it was labeled in small green letters, Impact typeface, 5-point - a name he knew but didn't think he would see it again.  
  
Forgive me.  
  
***  
  
Kikai swore. "Enough of this! I will kill you, Angel Slayer, even if it means destroying this whole universe in the process!" He turned to the army of invaders behind him. "Attack! Unite and destroy him! NOW!!"  
  
At Kikai's command, every invader gun popped out of their leather casings, all trained on Kenshin, who stood, unmoving, eyes never leaving Kikai.  
  
Slowly, Kenshin withdrew the desert eagle from its holster and levelled it at Kikai.  
  
"Gate Assault." He said coldly, his gate blasting open at the mouth of the firearm, black electricity crackling around it.  
  
Fear me. Fear me as death itself. For I will destroy everything that you hold dear. I am death incarnate. I am --  
  
"Dark Flare."  
  
The Angel Slayer.  
  
Simultaneously, as Kenshin pulled the trigger, more than a thousand rings of invader frequency shockwaves were sent hurtling toward him - Kenshin felt the gun buck as it spat out a round with enough force to punch through a thick metal wall, and then the searing heat as the bullet flew into the gate, and blast out a second later, a comet, trailing dark flames and energy, streaking towards the black-garbed mass of invaders - Kenshin readied himself as he waited for it to hit, sword arm tensing -  
  
Then, the comet hit in a deafening explosion, debris flying everywhere.  
  
Now.  
  
Without warning, Kenshin lunged, hand poised over the sakabatou as he flew over the cement, now littered with green crystals.  
  
This is it. The final battle. The one where I die in a blazing inferno of glory.  
  
Rings zoomed past him, missing by mere centimetres, exploding on impact, throwing up dirt and dust, igniting all around him.  
  
And I'm taking you all with me-  
  
Kenshin's hand flew to the sakabatou's handle, held it in a vice-like grip, and prepared to pull it, his gate opening before him.  
  
As many as I possibly can.  
  
"KIKAI!!"  
  
***  
  
"What was THAT?!?" Bancho yelled in fear - the gruesome spectacle had almost scared them out of their wits.  
  
I don't know, Ukiya thought, hands clenching into fists.  
  
He's here. I know he's here.  
  
Of course he is, a voice inside him snapped. Didn't you see that black dragon earlier? There's only one person who could have made that appear - and that's Shadow. Back to challenge you again - back to try and goad you into killing him - making you no different from them...  
  
...no different from an invader...  
  
"Ukiya-kun..." Ruriko whispered, eyes full of concern.  
  
"Dai...daijobu." Ukiya managed, forcing the tension out of him.  
  
Shadow, if I get my hands on you...  
  
"Ukiya-taicho!" Megane yelled from Ukiya's communicator, snapping Ukiya back to reality. "Taicho!"  
  
"What is it?" Ukiya replied. Megane had gone back to HQ to get the Gate Robot prepped and ready- Ukiya suspected that something had gone wrong.  
  
"Ano..taicho...you won't believe this...but.."  
  
"Megane, I'm waiting." Ukiya said in a tight voice, and the other gatekeepers turned and looked at him curiously.  
  
Stop it, Ukiya. It's not Megane's fault.  
  
The bespectacled boy genius gulped audibly. "There's someone on my radar....a gatekeeper, right inside ground zero - smack dab in front of the accumulating invaders."  
  
"Is it Shadow?" Ruriko asked, brow furrowing.  
  
Megane shook his head. "No - the radar would've notified me if it was him - sattelite visual's blurry too, probably due to the heavy invader concentration - all I can offer is that the new gatekeeper has red hair."  
  
Red...hair?  
  
Ukiya and Ruriko looked at each other, stunned.  
  
Impossible.  
  
"There's no record of him, either - we've searched through AEGIS Gatekeeper archives but there's no I.D. to match." Megane stopped. "Taicho? Ukiya-sempai, are you still there?"  
  
A voice called out. "Sempai!!" It was Kaoru. "Invaders have materialized right in the middle of the carnival! There's too many of them!"  
  
"That's right!" Bancho yelled, burns and cuts decorating his uniform. "But I took them all!I, the invincible Banba Chotaro was about to destroy all of them when I saw Kaoru-hime about to be hit, so I-"  
  
"BAKA!" Bancho's head lolled groggily as it was hit by a very strong Kaoru slap. "I pulled you out of there, remember?!? Konno.."  
  
As the couple started to argue Ukiya turned back to Megane. "Kaoru-san's right, taicho, we're now detecting at least two hundred invaders at least a half-click from your current position-"  
  
"And what does Shirei say about this?"  
  
Megane nervously cleared his throat. "Shirei's...um...not here. He had to go somewhere."  
  
Megumi smirked, her glasses glinting. "It seems we're caught in a bit of a stalemate..."  
  
"Ara...what are we going to do now, Ukiya-saaaaannn?" Reiko wondered.  
  
"Where?"  
  
"Nobody knows." Megane shook his head. "But Miss Ochiai said that your orders are to neutralize the invader threat first before investigating ground zero."  
  
Shirei, where are you when we need you the most?  
  
"Wakarimasu." Abruptly, Ukiya turned off the wristcom, eyes hard.  
  
Remember, Ukiya. The first priority of a Gatekeeper is the civilians he or she protects, and never the Gatekeeper himself, Shirei's words floated back to him, coming unbidden in his mind.  
  
"Ukiya-kun..." Ruriko said softly, eyes concerned.  
  
"Right." Ukiya looked up and saw the eyes of his comrades, intently looking at him.  
  
"Taicho, it's your call." Fei said, smiling.  
  
"We're with you all the way." Ruriko said, coming up beside him.  
  
Ukiya felt a smile touch his lips. "Yukatta." His eyes hardened. "We'll split into two groups to cover as much area as we possibly can. Me, Kaoru and Bancho'll be on point. Ruriko, Fei, Reiko and Megumi, you four provide cover fire. Don't hesitate to jump in if the situation calls for it - there's bound to be lots of civilians, so careful with your aim. And lastly...Shadow might show up sooner or later, so prepare yourselves."  
  
The others saluted in perfect unison. "Ryokai! AEGIS!"  
  
***  
  
"Move! Pick up your feet, idiot!" Hiko's sharp voice cut through the silence as Kenshin dived, rolled, somersaulted and leaped to avoid the Angel Slayer's deadly blasts, which left smoking holes on the ground. "I'm not even trying to hit you here! Come on! Dodge faster!"  
  
To be the master, you must first prove you're superior. It cannot work otherwise, Hiko had said earlier. To master the Angel Slayer is to defeat it first.  
  
And so began the training - if one could call it that, Kenshin thought ruefully, throwing himself to the side to avoid a beam that would have hit him full in the face had not he dodged. Scrambling to get up, Kenshin lunged again, feeling the heat of the beams as they narrowly missed--  
  
**  
  
--and that was what Kenshin was doing now, torquing himself to avoid purple rings being thrown at his direction...rings that exploded on impact, imploding themselves and whatever they touched...invader antimatter, to be precise - the only intent is to kill -  
  
...to destroy...  
  
Spinning around one the toes of his left foot, Kenshin faced his black-clothed pursuers and leaned back, pulling off a couple of gate-amplified rounds as he fell. Rolling to a squatting position, Kenshin jumped, pushing off the ground just before a ring hit the spot exactly where he was a split- second ago.  
  
Just like old times, eh? A voice said in his mind.  
  
Hardly. Much as I'd like to admit it Kikai's right - they HAVE evolved. Somehow they've become more efficient - much more, in comparison to the past invaders -  
  
Another barrage of rings hit the ground beside him.  
  
And to the fact that I'm actually breaking a sweat to kill them this time means something, Kenshin smiled in spite of himself. Omedeto, Akuma, he saluted the Invader brass in his mind. You've actually made my job a little bit more exciting.  
  
Crystals grinding underneath Kenshin's feet, crumbling into fine powder which mingled with the dust and dirt. Rings igniting where he stood only moments before. The all-too familiar rush of adrenalin coursing through his very being, pumping throughout his veins.  
  
The gun bucking wildly in his hand as he drives a bullet, point-blank, into an invader's skull.  
  
Battle.  
  
Battle. It is the only thing that we live for, Soujiro had said to him, when they met one day, outside the Kamiya dojo. It is - was - the only purpose I had in life. What we had in life. But now...I'm not so sure anymore.  
  
Kenshin and Kaoru were on their way to the market to buy some more tofu when they had bumped into the assassin-turned- rurouni. Kenshin was relieved that Soujiro was bladeless, not even a sakabatou - only a staff graced the Shukuchi warrior's sword hand. But Seta's other hand, however, was held by another - by a girl, probably a bit younger than Kaoru, but quite beautiful. Kaoru's eyes bugged out as the girl, named Hibiki, bowed shyly as a blushing Soujiro explained his relationship with the beauty that would put Misao's youthful looks to shame; they had been engaged for quite some time - about four months, and were planning to marry as soon as Hibiki completed her training. It turned out that Hibiki was studying the same technique that Soujiro had, and the two got along perfectly. Hibiki was a descendant of the Takane Family, a samurai clan known for their unrivaled skill in making and wielding swords, and was traveling the world to learn more about it. Soujiro was a hitokiri turned rurouni, and had no set destination - Kenshin could probably guess the rest.  
  
We never did see them again, Kenshin thought, smiling at the memory, half-mindedly leaping to the left to avoid getting hit. Soujiro, all throughout the conversation, had been...Kenshin couldn't quite find the word for it - different. It was as if he was changed somehow - that the smile on his face was in fact genuine, not pasted on like in the past, beaming like the sun. At peace with the world for the mere fact that he doesn't have to fight anymore - and he had found someone to love him.  
  
I envy you, Tenken no Soujiro, Kenshin whispered in his mind, saluting the rurouni. For your remaining years you were given a gift...the gift of utmost happiness.  
  
Your duty to fight, unlike mine, had been negated by your need to love....  
  
Time seemed to slow down as Kenshin, sensing a core invader nearby, twisted the right and struck, his arm extending all the way forward, turning still, and then stopped with a resounding crack as the desert eagle's butt made contact with the invader, bashing it across the face - the invader's head lolled sideways from the impact, a jagged hairline crack on its porcelain-like face slowly making its way down to the invader's chin, like blood trickling from a wound - Kenshin's other hand blurred downwards, sheathing the sakabatou, and a heartbeat later, not stopping from his rotation, tore it out of its saya, the momentum of his revolution driving the blade into the invader's midsection, ripping it in two, the reversed-edge blade ringing fatally, malevolently, as the fallen invader's halves hung limply in the air, falling, beckoned by gravity's eternal pull - Kenshin screamed as his gate opened in front of him, blackly charged with death, the wind roaring in his ears, blowing with the force of a blizzard -  
  
...your right to live...  
  
With a bloodcurdling scream Kenshin drew back and threw the sakabatou into the gate like a spear...the two ebony-hued rings crackled with black electricity as they absorbed the reverse-edged katana, and in the mere instant of an eyeblink, spat it out, a deadly beam of death, the sword encased in a dark aura as it streaked above the ground - with a liquid crushing noise the sakabatou stabbed into the hapless core's upper half, impaling it right in the middle of its chest - the core exploded, vaporizing into nothing more than fragments of red quartz.  
  
I will not stop until I kill each one of you. Every last one.  
  
"Impressive."  
  
Kikai.  
  
"Most impressive."  
  
Without a moment's hesitation Kenshin whirled around, the desert eagle snapping up into his hand - and prepared to pull the trigger as he oriented the desert eagle point-blank at Kikai's face, the barrel almost touching the invader general's nose.  
  
Then, another blur of movement, as Kikai's arm morphed - and Kenshin found himself staring into Kikai's gun-arm.  
  
Let the world perish. Let the universe perish. So long as I have my revenge.  
  
"Well, well, well...now how did we ever get ourselves into this predicament?" Kikai's lips twisted in a cruel parody of a smile as he felt the desert eagle's muzzle barely touch his forehead.  
  
The two warriors stared at each other, daring, waiting for his opponent to strike first.  
  
"I don't know, Kikai-shogun - you tell me." Kenshin's smile was a predatory one.  
  
Kikai risked a glance around. "My entire batallion...it took me such a long time to assemble such an army....and now look. Vaporized, in a mere fraction of an hour."  
  
"I vowed to destroy you all, Kikai. No matter what the cost." A click issued from the Desert Eagle as Kenshin pulled back the hammer. "And I'm not going to stop now."  
  
Then, remarkably, the invader general laughed.  
  
"And the question is, Angel Slayer - what will?"  
  
"What will make you stop? My death? Akuma's? The invaders'?"  
  
Silence.  
  
"For you know better than me - we CANNOT be destroyed." Kikai grinned maliciously as he prodded Kenshin's forehead with his gun-arm. "And no one - not even one such as you - can. Not you, not AEGIS, not even..."  
  
Kenshin's eyes narrowed as Kikai, grinning with sadistic satisfaction, silently mouthed a word - a name, from long ago...someone, who, three years ago, was his reason for living. A someone who almost died in the hands of Akuma. Someone who Kenshin cared for.  
  
Someone he loved.  
  
"Reina."  
  
Without warning, Kenshin fired, the Desert Eagle bucking upwards as the large round shot out of its barrel in a flash of light and smoke - Kikai flung himself backwards, landing with a thud as the bullet streaked above him, piercing the air where his head was a split-second earlier.  
  
"That was uncalled for." Kenshin said coldly, looking down on Kikai's half-sprawled form.  
  
"Hit a nerve, did I?" The invader general laughed, short hacking rasps of hilarity. "You see? You've become weak - the REAL Angel Slayer would have killed me by now."  
  
"Shut up." Kenshin's voice trembled slightly, the gun held in a vice-like grip. "You have no...fucking right to speak her name."  
  
A vision of Reina, half-covered with blood, her clothes torn, smiling weakly up at him as rain continued to fall around them.  
  
Kenshin...I...I couldn't l-leave...you...had..had to return....  
  
Kikai laughed again, not seeing the Desert Eagle trained at his head. "Coming back into the fray like a traitor trying to make amends...trying to make up for your past sins...pathetic."  
  
I...d-don't...want to let...you..suffer...  
  
"You couldn't even save her from me."  
  
"Shut up." Or I'll blow your head off - I swear I will...  
  
"With all your power - your strength, and the Angel Slayer's -"  
  
"I said shut up." Shut up shut up SHUT UP!  
  
Kikai's grin widened.  
  
K-kenshin...  
  
"You couldn't even rescue your own sister."  
  
That did it - Kenshin snapped. All the rage, all the fury that was kept so hard in check came rushing out, in great big blasts....suddenly the world darkened, everything sinking into pitch...  
  
...and Kenshin only saw Kikai.  
  
Him and only him.  
  
With an animalistic roar rumbling from his throat, Kenshin pulled the trigger, a bright flash, then a loud bang punctuated by the tiny plink of a spent cartridge falling onto the ground and its payload piercing its target - the gun was held so tightly, there was almost no recoil whatsoever - Kenshin's eyes blazed red as the trigger clicked back into position -  
  
And he fired again. And again.  
  
And again.  
  
***  
  
Miko sighed as the the umpteenth customer for complained about the cotton candy machine. No, ma'am, it does not take banknotes - only coins. No, sir, you can't select different colors. No, sir, you can't buy it. Sorry.  
  
Boring, she thought as she preened before a mirror. It was the only word for it - and to think that she begged for this job. Sure, the idea of working for the European Circus seemed spectacular when it first came to her - but NO. Instead of assigning her to a more *entertaining* job, someone high up thought it funny to make her the Public Relations Officer for the Propietary Booths. Hell, Miko thought, adjusting her necktie as the customer stopped to take a breath, even that Mascot job is starting to look quite promising...  
  
Miko glanced at her watch. Fifteen minutes left before her shift ends. Good. Maybe then I'll chase down that red-headed guy who makes those awesome sketches - Hirumi was quite ecstatic when she got hers....  
  
"And furthermore, I want...."  
  
Miko sighed, exasperated. "Look, sir, I've already told you a dozen times: European Carnival Vending Machines are not for sale, and...."  
  
"Return...to..my true..self?"  
  
"What?" Miko stopped, and turned to face the customer. "Sir-- "  
  
He was gone. Vanished into thin air.  
  
"Sir?" Miko leaned over the counter. Nothing.  
  
Weird....Miko's brow furrowed. She shrugged, and turned back to the mirror- only to find herself face-to-face with a black, one-eyed face of a monster.  
  
Silence. Then...  
  
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" The kunoichi screamed for all she was worth, hastily backpedaling to one side. "Ba-ba-BAKEMONO!!!"  
  
The monster cocked its head menacingly - reminding Miko of a rattlesnake just about to strike.  
  
"Subject is uncooperative. Subject must be destroyed."  
  
"No...get away from me!" Oh, great, Miko-kun, she silently berated herself - AS IF he'd really stop..  
  
"Subject must be destroyed. Subject must be --"  
  
"HIKARI NO YA!!"  
  
"SHINKUU MISAIRU!"  
  
Miko screamed, her arms held in front of her to shield herself as two projectiles - one bright green, the other blazing yellow, crashed into the monster, catching it unaware - the whole booth rocked, almost teetering, as the dark form suddenly exploded in a shower of red crystal.  
  
"Miko-san...Miko-san?" Miko dimly heard somebody say as she opened her eyes, expecting to see the monster still looming over her - but found nothing. What she saw instead was that her booth was...so as to say...totalled.  
  
Not my day at *ALL*...she thought, surveying the damage, not noticing.  
  
"Miko-san!"  
  
"Huh?" Miko snapped out of her reverie, and turned to see, of all people, Ruriko Ikusawa, complete with ribbon and a bow. "Oh, Ikusawa-kun..." Miko's brow furrowed as her stunned brain slowly registered the girl in front of her. "...what are you doing here?"  
  
"Daijobu?" Ruriko ignored her question, looking Miko up and down, checking for injuries.  
  
"Um...hai." Miko experimentally moved her neck, then her arms and legs. Nothing seemed to be broken. "I think so...only a little charred, I guess." Miko frowned as she felt the smoking burn marks on her polo. And to think I just bought this yesterday!  
  
Suddenly, people from within the park suddenly started to flood the exits, all seemed eager to get out as fast as they can - Miko caught the word 'Bakemono' in one or two harried yells as the customers started to abandon the carnival. Like rats fleeing a sinking ship, Miko thought ruefully.  
  
"What the hell is going on here? And that monster earlier -- where did it --"  
  
"There's no time to explain," Ruriko yelled over the noise. "Just get out of here as fast as you can!"  
  
"But...what about you?" asked Miko, concerned.  
  
"I'll catch up with you later. Right now --" An explosion flashed near them, brilliantly lighting up the night sky for a few moments, making the ground tremble beneath their feet.  
  
"Just go!"  
  
"Well, alright -" Miko started to run for it, but stopped and turned back to Ruriko. "Ikusawa?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Take care, okay?"  
  
Ruriko flashed her a bright smile - confident as always, Miko thought. "Yeah. Thanks. You take care too."  
  
***  
  
You couldn't even save your own sister.  
  
Kikai grinned as Kenshin, seemingly in slow motion, raise the Desert Eagle, hell blazing behind his eyes, aimed the muzzle straight at him - and fired.  
  
Closing his eyes, Kikai waited for the end.  
  
Defeated. Again.  
  
We are lost. Himura has won.  
  
Kikai felt the heat of the bullet as it passed right by his shoulder, slamming hard into the ground - and then similar shockwaves, stabs of sensation flaring up here and there.  
  
And now I die, Kikai thought, as he laid there, silently, accepting his fate but feeling absolute hatred for the man who was shooting him. But no matter. Akuma will create another body for me - and then will I exact my revenge. He will feel pain. My pain. And he will beg for death before the sun sets--  
  
Blam. Blam. Blam. Blam....  
  
click.  
  
"Get up."  
  
Get up? I'm already dead, imbecile. You killed me.  
  
"I said get up." The tone was deadly now, cold.  
  
Kikai's eyes snapped open -- and he saw Kenshin in front of him, the Desert Eagle smoking in his hand.  
  
Of all the... The invader general looked down on his form; the large bullet holes he were expecting were mysteriously absent - until he saw the smoking, broken cement tiling around him.  
  
"Why?" The question went out before Kikai could stop himself.  
  
Kenshin's eyes - dead as stones, and blazing yellow - coolly regarded him for a moment.  
  
"Not like this." He dropped the Desert Eagle to the ground, where it landed with a dull thunk, a discarded child's plaything. "Not a painless death. You deserve less - much less."  
  
A sharp ringing sound as Kenshin ripped the Angel Slayer from its sheath, the moon balefully mirrored on its cobalt-like surface.  
  
"As I told you before -" The voice held no trace of emotion, not even hatred -  
  
"I intend to make you suffer."  
  
Kikai laughed once again. "Omoshiroi. Himura, you never cease to amaze me...of your stupidity."  
  
"Call it what you like." Came the terse reply.  
  
Standing up, Kikai dusted himself off. "Very well, then. I shall be more than happy to accomodate you...Angel Slayer."  
  
Morphing his hand back into the bladed hook, Kikai stepped back, and raised it into the air.  
  
"Come, all you who have died under the touch of the cursed one. Come, all you who have served under me as my legions. Come and let me take my revenge."  
  
A green spark crackled on top of Kikai's hook, anticipatingly.  
  
Come.  
  
"HAIL VADER!!"  
  
Instantly, as if on cue, the shards of crystal that had littered the entire ground began to fly and gather into Kikai's hook like bees instantly drawn to their nest - sharp little minions fleeing to their master, the wind torn by the focus of energy as Kikai drew them to his hand like a magnet - then a sudden bright flash as the last shard fell into place -  
  
What was then Kikai's bladed hook, was now a green crystalline blade six feet long and three inches wide - a broadsword that in the proper hands, could be a deadly weapon.  
  
"Prometheus," Kikai stated, smiling as he held the blade up. "Do you know what this is, Himura? The essence of all the invaders that you killed just now - all the hate, the anger - focused into one point and one point only." In a blur, Kikai hefted it up and pointed it at Kenshin.  
  
Too long I've waited for this moment. Too long. And now...I shall relish ripping your heart out.  
  
"Your cheap parlor tricks will not earn my respect." Kenshin stated, gripping the silk wrappings on the Angel Slayer's handle. "You can try anything that you want - but when I say I'll kill you..."  
  
A tearing sound, strands of cloth breaking apart almost simultaneously as Kenshin gave the black bindings a sharp yank - the strip of silk unfurled from the handle and fell dejectedly to the ground, revealing the dark sword's bare, metal handle - and a small piece of parchment, carefully wrapped around it.  
  
"...your death is assured."  
  
Slowly, a red spot began to form on the yellowing paper - it began to grow, until the whole side of it was dripping crimson.  
  
Dripping with blood.  
  
Kikai stopped as realization took over.  
  
No. Impossible. Not again.  
  
"I, Himura Kenshin, fourth bearer of the sword, declare the Angel Slayer..."  
  
Energy crackling around the handle as Kenshin took hold of the parchment - blood splashing into the ground in dark red rivulets as it is torn in half.  
  
"...unsealed."  
  
No sooner had Kenshin said the final word darkness burst from the Angel Slayer, dark energy coming in huge blasts, expelling outwards like an explosion...the ground beneath them shook as if outraged at this blatant display of power....another burst of light, this time coming from Kenshin himself as the black energy came rushing into him, enveloping his body, covering him....  
  
and he smiled.  
  
I intend to make you suffer.  
  
**  
  
Reina stopped in her tracks, sweat bedewing her brow as her mental link to the Angel Slayer....her only link to Kenshin...was torn apart.  
  
No...Kenshin...not now....  
  
Then, suddenly, her legs bucked underneath her, giving way, letting her fall roughly to the ground in a heap...it was as if something inside her died...and she could dimly feel something warm drip from her fisted hands.  
  
Blood.  
  
He broke the seal...Reina thought crazily as she struggled to get up. Kenshin broke the Angel Slayer's seal...  
  
Reina closed her eyes as the memories resurface involuntarily, fleeting visions that flash before her eyes...remembering what she always wanted to forget..  
  
"Gold team, this is Black team...requesting immediate support."  
  
Faster, Kenshin....or we won't be able to get back...  
  
"Gold team, this is Black team, requesting immediate support...I repeat, this is Black team, requesting immediate support..."  
  
Kenshin...quick...I...I..  
  
"Gold team here. We are unable to comply with your request."  
  
Bombs exploding off a few miles ahead of them, all around them, surrounding them in a blaze of eruptions, bursts of snow that carry with it rivulets of blood that immediately freeze in the cold air.  
  
"You can't do that - my men - Reina - Shirei, look, let me speak to Shirei, I..."  
  
Static as the other end switches off.  
  
"This is Black team, mayday, mayday - requesting immediate support, dammit! Shirei! SHIREI!"  
  
A clunk as Kenshin drops the radio into the ground - and then, suddenly, invaders surround them from all angles, popping up from under the snow, shaking off the white material like ungodly dandruff as they rise like the living dead, awakening from their eternal rest...  
  
Never cry for me.  
  
Kenshin! Kenshin! NO!  
  
Time slows down to a crawl as Kenshin dives in front of Reina, using himself as a shield as a ring streaks toward her - and sparks fly as the shockwave hits the Angel Slayer, knocking it free from Kenshin's grip, tearing its handle wrappings apart...  
  
and the seal.  
  
Kenshin...please don't leave me here again...not again...  
  
Suddenly, something flashed in her eyes - in her mind - white, abrupt explosions that almost made her lose consciousness....  
  
Aishiteru, Reina...  
  
Reina rose on all fours, trembled, her head pounding in agony and nausea...her head dipped down, retching as she violently threw up on the sidewalk.  
  
Fuck.  
  
Visions of her mother, brandishing the Angel Slayer with the cold precision of a hitokiri, the black blade reflecting all the hate - the fear - the evil - inside her mother's eyes....  
  
Okasan...Kenshin...no...  
  
Her mother, sitting with her on the front porch, watching the sakura float from their high perches down onto the ground.  
  
Mom, why is that big sword always wrapped in talismans?  
  
Sakura Chiharu smiling down at her. "Because it's a bad sword, and it won't behave unless we keep it covered, that's why."  
  
Bad?  
  
"Mmm-hmm. It's a bad sword, and it also makes other people who use it bad." A dainty hand rose from its position on the porch floor to Reina's head.  
  
Will I turn bad if I use it?  
  
"Yes." A chiding hand plops down on top of her head. "That's why you must never touch it."  
  
But Kenshin-kun can touch it....Hiko-san said...  
  
"That's because he's special." The hand now ruffles her hair. "He doesn't turn bad when he uses it."  
  
Why?  
  
"Because he's chosen. The bad sword chose him."  
  
Chosen...  
  
Suddenly, the flashes stop, taking with it the nauseating feeling of a concussion...Reina gingerly wiped her mouth along her sleeve and shakily stood up, thanking her stars that no one was around to see her empty out her stomach on the sidewalk.  
  
Crying in your sleep, and now vomiting? Reina chuckled darkly as she steadied herself, leaving bloody handprints smeared all over the wall she was leaning on. By God, Chiharu, you must really love him that much, huh?  
  
Hell yes, Reina smiled weakly as she tried to light a cigarette she held between her lips, cursing when the lit match fell from her trembling fingers.  
  
Fuck yes. He's the only person I have left...left to remind me of who I am...left to remind me that I'm still alive...  
  
But now...what?  
  
Tears slowly began to sting as the last match slipped through her fingers, the miniscule flame snuffed out before the small wooden stick hit the ground...Reina sank down again, her legs failing her, the cigarette laying forgotten as the Countess Reina brokenly sobbed into her hands.  
  
Not again. Please, not again - after all I've been through just to find him...please...  
  
***  
  
Inhale. Assess target. Nock arrow. Exhale.  
  
Ikusawa Ruriko silently concentrated, her eyes never blinking as purple shockwave rings flew at them from all directions, missing them by either mere feet or mere inches, lacerating the ground, kicking up dust and debris...  
  
Pull back arrow. Aim. Inhale.  
  
The tip of her arrow sparked, then gleamed, as a smaller version of her gate opened before it, shining brightly.  
  
Prepare to be ruined - prepare to be crushed - for we shall never let you corrupt this world any longer.  
  
"Hikari no..."  
  
Release.  
  
"YA!"  
  
Her fingers tightening, Ruriko let the arrow fly, now encased in a gold aura as it harnessed her gate's energy, traveling at thrice the speed and power of a normal arrow toward the silent mass of black-garbed aliens in front of them. Turning away from the resulting explosion of golden light, Ruriko reached under her skirt, tapped the dispenser to knock loose another arrow, and with the cold efficiency of a machine, strung it and aimed, looking for a target...  
  
Disappear from this planet forever.  
  
Exhale. Release.  
  
"Hikari no ya!"  
  
Another invader vanished, leaving its trademark crystal remains hovering in the air for a moment before shattering on the ground.  
  
Die.  
  
"Ikusawa-san! Look out!" A young voice called out as Ruriko rolled sideways to avoid another barrage - this time the rings hit close. Too close.  
  
They're getting more and more accurate...it's like they're levelling up after each and every time we fight...taking into account all our attacks, our strategies...  
  
Her bow flapped angrily against the wind as Ruriko aimed and launched another salvo of arrows, one after another, stray sunbeams of light piercing black cloth and green crystal with pinpoint accuracy.  
  
You're getting paranoid, Rurippe, a voice inside her snapped, the last word dripping with sarcasm. You're faster than this - and it wouldn't even matter if you're outnumbered. What's wrong with you?  
  
Her eyes moving skyward, Ruriko raised her bow and tracked the invader Bancho had just flung into the air, and with a single arrow, reduced it into crystal, the green shard vaporizing before it even touched the ground.  
  
Nothing's wrong. Everything's just...fine-  
  
Alarm bells ringing in her head, Ruriko whirled around, just in time to see an ET-23 invader sprung up in front of her, its sole eye scrutinizing her in a reptilian manner - Ruriko backpedaled as it jumped at her, her hand fumbling clumsily for an arrow -  
  
Boom.  
  
Ruriko instinctively threw herself backwards as the approaching invader violently imploded, the resulting explosion almost blinding her - Ruriko shielded her eyes from the resulting dust and looked for whatever caused the invader's sudden death. Surely not a new attack - I've never seen them going kamikaze on us before...  
  
"Ikusawa-sempai!" The voice yelled again, and Ruriko looked up to see Fei, grinning, a smoking tank buster resting on her narrow shoulders. "I'm getting quite good at this, aren't I?"  
  
Fei-san! Of course! I forgot that she was re-assigned to artillery...  
  
"Arigato!" Ruriko cupped her hands in front of her mouth and shouted out to the young kunoichi, who flashed her a victory sign in return. "Arigato, Fei-chan!"  
  
"Doitashimashite-" Fei started to reply, but suddenly got cut off as three ET-23s materialized behind the young kunoichi, surrounding her, blocking off every possible escape route.  
  
"FEI!" Ruriko almost screamed as the invaders closed in on the chinese girl - but her worries somehow evaporated as a red ring blasted open in front of Fei and instantly engulfed one of the advancing invaders in flames.  
  
"Don't worry about me, sempai!" Fei yelled, shaking her head as she discarded the rocket launcher, her free hand extended towards her gate. "I heard Kaoru-san's been injured - get to her as fast as you can!"  
  
"Hai!" Ruriko shouted back, stringing up another arrow as Fei turned back to her attackers, her gate shining even more brightly - her gold bangles clinked together softly as she thrust both her hands into the Gate of Fire, distorting them, covering them in flame as the energy built up on the ring...  
  
I will not give up that easily....I promised my brother that...  
  
Gate...open...  
  
"FIRE DRAGON!"  
  
Instantly, the Gate of Fire pulsed, spitting out a horizontal column of entire flame which took on the immense form of a serpent-like dragon - Fei felt the air around her sizzle as the fire-borne entity erupted from her hands and flew at the remaining bat-like invaders, ripping them apart as it smashed into them, leaving nothing but smoking crystals behind.  
  
You creatures have no right to remain in this world - you corrupt the very air we breathe in, the land we walk in -  
  
For Mother Nature - for all living things - for the earth itself -  
  
Fei's eyes hardened as some of the remaining invaders began to shoot their rings at her - her gate opened again, flames dancing all around her in streams, ready to attack..  
  
We shall not fail.  
  
**  
  
Ruriko rolled to the side as more rings began peppering the ground beside her, leaving perfect black circle burn marks on the cement as they hit. Tightening her grip on her bow, Ruriko dived to the left and released the arrow just moments before her shoulder hit the ground - flying true to her aim it shot through a core's chest before exploding in a bright shower of sparks.  
  
Damn, I'm good, Ruriko grinned as she heard the abrupt sound of crystal breaking. Those afternoon practices've really paid off.  
  
Quickly climbing back to her feet Ruriko caught a glance of Ukiya blocking a projectile attack with his bokken, the wooden sword glowing a bright blue as Ukiya loudly opened his gate, making a small hurricane around them - Ruriko self- conciously held on tight to the hem of her skirt, trying to keep it from being blown up as the Keeper of the Gate of Gales struck with all his might, blowing the core invader and a few of its followers off their feet, blue slash marks riddling their bodies before they vaporized into almost nothing.  
  
Breathing hard, Ukiya turned to her, immediately flashing Ruriko a grin, almost like a puppy. "Hey Rurippe! Not bad at all, eh?" He shouted out to her, taking a pose with the bokken, not seeing the core invader that had just materialized behind him, cocked to strike - raising the bow, Ruriko aimed casually at the alien behind Shun, trying not to laugh at Ukiya's change of expression when he saw the arrow pointed straight at him.  
  
"Rurip- er, Ruriko-chan...what are you doing?" Ukiya said, sweat bedewing his brow, eyeing the yellow-ribboned girl. Oh, man, now I've done it, I've called her Rurippe too many times she's snapped...  
  
Easy, Ruriko...steady... "Don't move a muscle, Ukiya-kun!" Ruriko called out, not taking her eyes off the invader. Now we'll see if that training of yours REALLY paid off...  
  
Willing her hands to stop shaking, Ruriko pulled the arrow back a notch, and letting out a breath, released it, the synthetic bow string snapping back to its original position as it launched its payload - Ruriko squinted her eyes as the tip of her arrow erupted in a bright flare of golden light as it streaked to its target...Ukiya was really nervous now, standing ramrod straight and absolutely trying not to move...the invader behind him stopped as it noticed the golden projectile bearing down on him -  
  
Zwing.  
  
Missing Ukiya by only centimetres, the arrow flew right by his ear and speared through the head of the core invader, precisely between the eyes, throwing it back a couple of meters before it exploded in a flash of bright light.  
  
"Bullseye." Ruriko winked at a dumbfounded Ukiya as he slowly turned around and saw the glittering remnants of the invader she just shot. "Not bad at all, ne?"  
  
Ukiya soured at her, making Ruriko giggle delightedly. "You should've seen your face when I let go at that arrow - you looked scared out of your wits!"  
  
"Ha ha. Really funny!" Ukiya called back as he ran over to her, ignoring the rings hitting the ground where he had just ran over, tracking him. Grunting, he sprinted and jumped, landing beside Ruriko and crouched with her, hiding behind the cover.  
  
"Tired already?" Ruriko raised one eyebrow mockingly as Ukiya panted, inhaling great deep gulps of oxygen as rings bombarded the ground beside them.  
  
"Hell...no...I'm..I'm just getting started..." Ukiya gasped between breaths - Ruriko had to bite the inside of her tounge just to keep her face straight. Noting the peculiar expression on her face, Ukiya took another breath and said: "I thought...you were...really going to...shoot me....earlier.."  
  
"Ukiya no BAKA!" Ruriko giggled, ruffling his hair. "What would make you think that I'd really want to shoot you? Really!"  
  
"Well, I..." Ukiya got cut off as more invaders began shooting at them - and by the looks of things, either they get out of cover and attack or just wait until the metal barricade blocking them from the invader's line of fire melted, thus exposing them to invader attacks, or worse.  
  
Ruriko grinned at him. "Let's talk about it later, shall we?"  
  
Ukiya grinned back. "Okay. Your place or mine?"  
  
"Yours." Both looked at each other's eyes and laughed, not even noticing the sounds of battle around them, as if the whole world never existed - only they did, and both just happened to divulge secrets to one another, secrets that no one may know but yet everybody knew at the same time.  
  
I love him, and he loves me, Ruriko thought, smiling as Ukiya turned back to the battle. Simple as that.  
  
"By the way, have you seen Kaoru?"  
  
Ukiya nodded. "Yeah. Just north of us - I saw her with Bancho. Why?"  
  
"Fei said that she's injured-" A booth a little ways off them exploded, showering them with debris. "I think it's bad, by the way Fei told me about it - anyway, I need to get to her as fast as I can."  
  
Another explosion. "See that post over there?" Ruriko nodded as Ukiya pointed to a large steel post, its top half almost bent to an L shape. "If you could get over there, you'd be at shouting distance to Kaoru - and the post could provide as cover for a little bit."  
  
"How about Suzume and Ayame? Where are they?"  
  
"With Megumi and Reiko - they both volunteered."  
  
Ruriko's eyes widened. Kuroganei-san, actually caring? The girl wouldn't even blink if another atomic bomb dropped on Tategami!  
  
Ukiya smiled at her reaction. "That makes two of us - I didn't know Megumi-chan was so good with children until I saw Ayame fall asleep in her arms! I mean, Reiko-chan, I can understand, but...Megumi-chan.."  
  
Another explosion, this time VERY near, almost blowing them off their feet had they not held on.  
  
"...You're right, let's do this later." Ukiya gave a sheepish grin as Ruriko shook her head in mock exasperation. She shook another arrow from her dispenser and strung it up. "So what's the plan?"  
  
Ruriko raised her head to take a peek, then bowed down again. "At the count of three, I'll dash out of here, and you provide cover fire while I make my way to Kaoru. Get it?"  
  
"Why don't I just come with you? I mean.."  
  
Ruriko held up her hand. "Uh-uh. We'll just slow each other down - besides, that way the invaders have two separate targets to chase instead of two that's close together. And as so you know..." Ruriko gestured with the bow in her hand. "I can pretty much take care of myself."  
  
Ukiya grinned. "Well, you're right about that..." He raised his bokken. "Ready?"  
  
Ruriko crouched down, her legs tensing as she prepared to lunge out of the protective cover. "As I'll ever be."  
  
Three...two...one...now!  
  
Concentration contorting her face, Ruriko ran, full out, leaving Ukiya behind as he launched countless missiles at the invaders, shooting arrow after arrow, blatantly ignoring the rings imploding beside her, counting down to ten as each arrow pierced its mark - when she reached zero, she immediately halted, stopping behind a post, where she crouched for some cover, and rested for a bit - she looked back at Ukiya, at gave him a thumbs up.  
  
Absolutely...nothing...wrong....the yellow-ribboned girl panted, trying to will down the throbbing pain in her legs, trying to catch her breath, trying to keep herself focused so that tomorrow - yes, tomorrow - I can still wake up and shout at Ukiya-kun.  
  
Ukiya. Shun. Ruriko smiled momentarily as she tinkered with the bracelet on her wrist.  
  
I love him too much to give up now...  
  
Reaching up to tuck some recalcitrant bangs behind her ear, Ruriko surveyed the war zone in front of her, searching for any sign of Kaoru. If Konoe had been hurt, then Ruriko had to give her immediate healing and fast - Kaoru may be the Gate of Close Combat, but the girl still had difficulty fighting with injuries - besides, it was her job...iie, her duty..to heal any and all injuries...no matter what the cost.  
  
There! Ruriko leaned out of her cover and saw the freshman gatekeeper lift a bulldozer with one hand - however, instead of the usual grin Kaoru wore when about to deliver a massive attack - generally smashing something really big and heavy into their enemies - Konoe's face was pale and covered with sweat, as if the effort was taking its toll on her...Ruriko took a closer look and gasped as she saw blood trickling down from Kaoru's right shoulder onto her arm, trailing dark red tracks as it dried.  
  
"Kaoru-san!" Ruriko shouted, bow at ready should an invader attack, trying to call the freshman's attention, but Kaoru was in no situation to listen - her injured arm hung limply on her side as she used the bulldozer as a shield from the invader barrage, which showed no sign of letting up.  
  
"Kaoru-san!" Ruriko tried again. Shoulder wound - and it's bleeding, too - a fracture, maybe, or just a flesh wound. Ruriko thought as she recalled all the medic training Ochiai had given her during the weekends, at the same time trying to figure out a route to the injured girl - the wound looked deep, and Kaoru was losing a lot of blood.  
  
Ruriko tried again. "Kaoru-san! Kaoru-"  
  
"KAORU THROW!!"  
  
A rush of air, a shouted effort - and the bulldozer that Kaoru was holding high above her head became a deadly 4-ton projectile sailing through the air at 50 miles an hour - Ruriko readied herself as the large construction equipment succumbed to gravity, plummeting downwards in an arc, its target a group of invaders busily sniping them with their shockwave emitters, a red core amongst them, right in the centre -  
  
Three. Two. One.  
  
"HIKARI NO YA!"  
  
Quick as a flash, Ruriko stood up and with only a split second to aim, pulled off a shot, the arrow trained on the red spot amongst the black - Ruriko didn't move as the invader core exploded into crimson shards a moment before the the bulldozer fell - no, smashed - into it and the invaders surrounding the core...a tremor shook the ground as the sound of crystals exploding filled the air.  
  
AEGIS Gatekeepers one, ugly invader force zero, Ruriko grinned in spite of herself as she rushed out of her cover - Kaoru's attack should have caused enough of a diversion to let her get to the girl unharassed...  
  
But stopped as she saw three enormous shockwave rings, spaced evenly apart, streaking towards her.  
  
Masaka....  
  
"Rurippe!" Ukiya yelled, his voice somewhat distorted as Ruriko tried valiantly to dodge, anything to just get out of the line of fire, but her feet felt like lead as she saw them edge nearer...  
  
"RURIPPE!!"  
  
I....Ukiya...  
  
"GATE! OPEN!" Megumi screamed, her gate blazing with energy as a massive wall of green translucent energy rose up before them, sparking violently as the rings crashed into it, straining to break through - and then abruptly exploded, both forces negating each other.  
  
"Megumi-san!" Ruriko called out, half in shock and half in relief as she saw the bespectacled gatekeeper walk into view, one hand cradling Ayame and the other held out toward her gate.  
  
"Wall of steel." Megumi muttered, raising another wall in front of them, screening them from other possible attacks. She turned to Ruriko, a slight smile curving her lips.  
  
"You could at least say thank you," She said quietly, slightly chiding the yellow-ribboned Gatekeeper. "Ikusawa- san."  
  
"Hai. A-arigato." Ruriko smiled uncertainly back - Megumi nodded, honor satisfied, and slowly made her way back to the shadows, Ayame still in her arms.  
  
"You would do well to watch your back from now on, Ikusawa." Megumi said imperiously, her back turned to the Gatekeeper of light. "Be cautious at all times - you are an asset to this team, and not a liability. It is imperative for you to stay one."  
  
"Hai." Say something else. Just say something, Ruriko! I mean, she saved your life, for goodness sake's-  
  
"Um.."  
  
A slight crackle as a green translucent orb fell onto Ruriko, encasing her.  
  
"Konoe-san is waiting for you. Go. I shall provide your cover."  
  
"Megumi-san?" Ruriko ventured, taking a step towards her. "Ano...I...I want to tell you something..."  
  
"Now is not the time." Megumi turned her head towards Ruriko, meeting her gaze. "Doitashimashite."  
  
Turning back, she continued on her destination, a slow calm walk, in contrast to the mad chaos in the battlefield - Ruriko stared after her, silently thanking her again before running off to Kaoru.  
  
***  
  
"You are a fool, Himura!" Kikai screamed as the black aura around Kenshin flared up, engulfing the Angel Slayer in it as the sword unleashed its powers that were so long kept in check - symbols written in an unknown language began to hover around Kenshin before getting absorbed in the aura, each time making the enormous flame that he was in flash a blood red....  
  
Suddenly, the aura disappeared into Kenshin, as if being absorbed into his body, into his bloodstream, empowering him, corrupting him - the Angel Slayer's sharp edge slowly turned crimson, offsetting the black blade as it slowly crept up until the whole length of the blade was blazing red.  
  
"You have unsealed the Angel Slayer! Are you mad?! DO YOU WANT TO DESTROY US ALL?!?"  
  
Kenshin turned to the invader general - Kikai stepped back, the green blade in his hand shining as he stared into the Gatemaster's pupiless eyes. Death's eyes.  
  
Without warning, Kenshin struck, a malevolent smile on his face as the Angel Slayer came alive in his hands. Kikai parried the blow and rode it away from him, but Kenshin was faster - in a blink of an eye, the Angel Slayer was in its sheath - and in another, it was out, traveling in an arc that would have cut Kikai in half had he not used his sword as a shield, effectively stopping it - both swords locked together, sparks flying as both swords ground into the other, their owners struggling to push his opponent's weapon back.  
  
"Most impressive." Kenshin smiled as Kikai tried mightily to stand his ground. "For a weakling."  
  
Enraged at the Angel Slayer's words Kikai yelled as he raised Prometheus up, breaking the stalemate and lunging for Kenshin, the green blade aimed at his heart-  
  
Die.  
  
And thus the battle began.  
  
Discreetly letting his weight fall on the heel of his right foot, Kenshin dropped, letting Prometheus slash the air above him, whistling overhead as it passed by. Twisting around, he sweeped Kikai's feet from under him, toppling the large man over - planting his hands onto the cement Kenshin did a backflip, turning in midair, the Angel Slayer aimed at Kikai's prone form.  
  
"Not YET!" Kikai roared, rising up from the ground and lunging at Kenshin, swinging Prometheus furiously in wide, massive arcs - lithely falling back onto the ground, the rurouni rushed up to him, the black blade coming alive in his hands as he blocked each and every one of Kikai's strikes with the ease of a master humiliating a wayward student, as if reading each and every move.  
  
Then, a yell as Kenshin struck with enormous strength, forcing Kikai's blade down - Kikai strained as he struggled to raise Prometheus, anything to escape his vulnerable position - quick as a rattlesnake, Kenshin grabbed Kikai by the collar, staring him down -  
  
"I tire of you."  
  
In a split second, Kenshin twisted around, his leg snapping outward as he did so, catching Kikai's jaw in a turning long roundhouse kick with a resounding crack - Kenshin quickly sheathed the Angel Slayer and took a battou-jutsu pose at the same motion, his body tensing as Kikai's form went flying...  
  
Now.  
  
Immediately, Kenshin dashed, moving with inhuman speed as he followed Kikai's descent, his form almost only a blur - as he neared the invader general, their eyes met yet again, for a split second - Kenshin smiled coldly as he noticed the fear in his opponent's eyes.  
  
Die.  
  
His hand blurring downwards to the Angel Slayer's handle, Kenshin struck, the sword's reverse edge slamming hard into Kikai's back - ripping the Angel Slayer downwards, Kenshin began to deliver a successive series of slashes at the hapless invader hanging in midair, each blow stronger, faster than the last -  
  
Gate Assault -  
  
"Dark flare!"  
  
In one final strike, Kenshin thrust his left hand forward, the Gate of Death opening before him. In the mere space of an eyeblink the gate spat out a beam of black energy, hitting Kikai out of the air and driving him into the pavement - gritting his teeth, Kikai changed trajectory, using the momentum of the beam to push himself upright - pushing off the ground, he launched himself at Kenshin, Prometheus at the ready -  
  
Clang.  
  
Effortlessly, the Angel Slayer blocked Prometheus yet again, the black offsetting the green as they ground against each other - the two men circled, their swords still connected, like two actors in a scene, a choreographed dance of death -  
  
You must never win.  
  
Shouting an oath, Kikai thrust forward at Kenshin, but instead of cutting into flesh and bone, the blade only sliced through air as Kenshin stepped to the side, letting the invader general dash by him, his hand blurring as he grabbed Kikai by the lapels, virtually choking him.  
  
"Too slow."  
  
In one smooth motion, Kenshin reared back and threw Kikai into the air, with all the ease of one flinging a doll around - Kikai's screams echoed into the night sky as he tumbled helplessly, a cruel parody of flying, the green blade in his hand twinkling mockingly whenever the moonlight would hit it -  
  
Now you suffer.  
  
Crouching down low, tensing his legs, Kenshin pushed off from the ground with so much force that the cement cracked beneath him, the wind ripping through his clothes, his hair as he all but flew upwards, the Angel Slayer gleaming coldly, a wayward star rising into the black beyond-  
  
Within moments Kenshin was upon Kikai, and both glared at each other, red eyes meeting green ones as they reached the peak of their ascent, the air rushing up to them, roaring in their ears as they began to fall.  
  
"HOW DOES IT FEEL, KIKAI?" The Angel Slayer laughed again, barely audible from the noise of the roaring wind, sending chills down Kikai's spine. "YOU'RE GOING TO DIE, JUST LIKE ME, JUST LIKE REINA..."  
  
Fear as Kenshin gripped him tightly by his collar, shoving his face right into his, noses almost touching.  
  
"Only this time...this time you're going to die before me."  
  
With that, Kenshin let go of Kikai, and planting both his feet at the invader general's chest, kicked him away - unsheathing the Angel Slayer, Kenshin dived at the falling invader general.  
  
"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu..."  
  
Air rushed at him from all corners as he plummeted towards the flailing dark form of his enemy, the Angel Slayer ringing in the cool air...Kikai twisted frantically around to see Kenshin right on top of him, the black blade coming alive in his hands, poised to strike...  
  
Death shall come for us, but I shall come for you first.  
  
"RYU-TSUI-SEN!!"  
  
With enough power to cleave a mountain Kenshin swung the Angel Slayer downwards, the action so fast it came out as merely a blur- it made a sharp whistling noise as it cut through the wind, and then struck with a bone-jarring crack as it connected with Kikai's collarbone - the general's mouth opened in a silent scream as the momentum of the blow sent him hurtling towards the ground like a meteor, with Kenshin close behind -  
  
Suffer. Suffer as I have. Suffer a million years of pain -  
  
A crackle of energy as Kenshin aimed the Angel Slayer straight at Kikai, the blade glowing with a dark purple hue - Kenshin gritted his teeth as he gathered all the force he had into one, final strike.  
  
Heaven's retribution - I now deliver.  
  
"DARK FLARE!"  
  
The clouds seemed to part as a massive beam of death erupted from the Angel Slayer's blade, lighting up the sky as it shot downwards, intent on destroying anything it came upon - it streaked nearer, faster, catching up to Kikai just as he was about to hit the ground - Kikai screamed as he felt the heat of the beam, searing him, almost torching his whole body as it zoomed closer -  
  
Boom.  
  
Instantly, with the power to match those of a god's, the beam struck, pummeling - driving - Kikai in the cement, the blast creating a huge crater as it tore into the earth - Kikai gave Kenshin one final glance of hatred as his body slowly began to crystallize, bit by bit - Kenshin came closer, his eyes coming back to normal now, blazing red giving way to a cool purple - the rurouni regarded him for a moment before shaking his head and turning away.  
  
"Tell Akuma that he's next."  
  
With that, the beam exploded, imploding into a wide pillar of light, ripping apart Kikai's body as energy was unleashed upwards -  
  
and a single red shard shattered on the floor.  
  
============================================================== =========  
  
End of Part Three.  
  
Rift/KeroChan 


	4. Side story: Kenshin and Reina

Gate Masters: Side Story  
dark_mew@edsamail.com.ph   
  
Czechoslovakia, Cherypovka Power Plant District. December 14, 1964. 4:00 a.m.  
  
Snow. Snow all around. Everything is snow. Everything is white, so damn white it's almost blinding. And it's cold.   
  
Ukiya held the flimsy coat, tattered with bullet holes, tighter around his body.  
  
Too damn cold.   
  
Ukiya checked his gun again, making sure the frost didn't make any moving parts stick to each other.  
  
I hate this job.  
  
One of the soldiers passing by gave him a paper cup full of coffee. He muttered thanks, and held the paper cup close. Thankfully, it was warm. It helped a little.   
  
Taking a sip from the cup, he stood up and surveyed the horizon. Ukiya clicked the safety off his rifle and looked through its sniper scope, searching for anything....especially the sunglassed-and-trenchcoated variety.  
  
Nothing. Nothing but snow.  
  
They had been stationed in Czech for quite some time now; Ukiya could barely remember the last time he had a decent meal or slept in a decent bed. Reports had said that the current invader stronghold was in a plant to the northeast, just a mile from their current position.  
  
Drawing back his rifle he sat again, taking hold of the coffee cup and sipping again.  
  
"Snow. God forsake this miserable snow....." A voice said behind him. He turned around to see Shirei, stone-faced as always, wearing a coat almost as thin as Ukiya's. The frost had begun to freeze one of his glasses' lenses.  
  
"Oh. Shirei." Ukiya nodded at him in acknowledgement. "Yep. I didn't know I could hate snow this much until we were stationed to Czechoslovakia."  
  
"Cheer up." Shirei said with no trace of emotion on his face. "We're going home soon."  
  
"Masaka...." Ukiya's eyes widened. "..you mean...?"  
  
Shirei nodded. "Draconian measures for Draconian times."  
  
"About time." Ukiya looked back at the horizon. "I kind of feel sorry for them, you know. They won't stand a chance."  
  
"Them?" There was a trace of humor in Shirei's voice.   
  
"No. The invaders." Ukiya smiled. "With those two on the job, it makes me thank God that they're on our side..."  
  
**Outside Invader Stronghold, fifteen minutes later**  
  
Two cloaked figures stood in front of the large, imposing, seemingly indestructible door that blocked off the invader base from view. Their cloaks flapping in the blizzard's wind like the wings of an owl trying desperately to escape the updrift, they silently stared at the massive barrier contemplatively, as if making up some complicated strategem to get inside...  
  
"I HATE CZECHOSLOVAKIA!!" Reina screamed, eyes blazing. "It's cold, it's wet, it's uncomfortable, it's snow, snow, snow twenty four hours a day, seven days a week...and the food..." Reina turned into an interesting shade of green. "I want to go home..."  
  
If you and Kenshin could wrap this all up today, you might.  
  
Screw Shirei. Gatemaster unit my ass. He's using Kenshin..I just know it...like he was used during the Bakumatsu no Doran...doing the dirty work...alone...  
  
She lowered the hood of her cloak and ran her hand through her long, yellow hair. Well, that kind of explains why you're here, right? Protecting him.   
  
Baka. Reina laughed slightly. Protect Battousai, the Angel Slayer? Riiiight. As if he needs protecting--  
  
--but he does. You promised him.  
  
Reina looked down on the snow wistfully, shivering quietly, feeling alone.  
  
As if he cares about it. All he does is get himself into trouble. Always the first to get into any battle. He doesn't care--  
  
--he does care. All those times, when he went first, before you, did you happen to think that he was trying to shoulder everything? That he didn't want you to get hurt?  
  
Nonsense. I'm almost a gatemaster; and I'm a master of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu as well....surely...  
  
Surely what? Look; last time you hugged him he almost yelled. He was trying to hide a rib broken after that last sortie. If that invader could injure the Angel Slayer, or Battousai for that matter...think of what he could have done to you.  
  
Reina looked down again as she reached a conclusion.  
  
He's protecting me...actually risking his neck for me...what I should be doing for him....  
  
She risked a glance at Kenshin, who was sitting in the snow, humming merrily, looking at the invader hideout through a pair of binoculars. Either on cue, a fluke, or Kenshin was too damn intuitive, he turned to face her. When their eyes met briefly, green eyes on dark violet ones, Reina felt the cold disappear. Kenshin, oblivious to her thoughts, gave her a small smile, small but heartfelt nonetheless.  
  
Baka....Kenshin..no baka...  
  
She closed her eyes.  
  
Doesn't he know?  
  
You never told him.  
  
But he still loves-  
  
But she's gone. All of them. Kenshin visited their graves last week-  
  
You sound so cruel, you know that? As if you're happy she's gone.   
  
I'm not...  
  
Reina gasped involuntarily when Kenshin, quiet as a mouse, grasped her hand, just below the wrist.  
  
"Reina-dono...tell me what's wrong." Kenshin said softly, his eyes on hers, gently but firmly, trying to find out exactly what was on her mind. Reina lowered her head, unwanted tears painfully trying to squeeze out of her tightly closed eyes..  
  
Oh God...please..please don't let him see... She tried to force them back, but they still came...   
  
Stop it. This is no time to start.  
  
Reina made a small noise, a sniffling one, quickly dragged her sleeve across her eyes and smiled brightly at Kenshin. "I-Iie...daijobu."  
  
"Are you sure de gozaru ka?"  
  
Reina nodded quickly. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just some snow that fell into my eyes, that's all."  
  
Kenshin stared at her for a few more moments, then, apparently convinced, resumed his lookout on the hideout for any visual confirmation of invaders.  
  
Did I actually expect him to believe that? Reina looked uncertainly at Kenshin, who continued humming.  
  
Baka. Kenshin's being POLITE...too damn polite. He trusts you so much he'll believe anything you say.  
  
Poor Kenshin. If he only knew...  
  
"Reina-chan, daijobu..?"  
  
Reina jumped at least three feet sideways, no mean feat as she was loaded down with so much ammunition; when her feet reconnected themselves firmly to the ground, she spun around and shouted, "Kenshin! Don't DO that to me!"  
  
Kenshin smiled sheepishly, scratching his neck. "Sumanai de gozaru. Sessha has a habit of doing that...but there's something..." he held out a pair of binoculars to her.  
  
"Nan da yo?" She said, trying to sound gruff, but failing miserably. She brushed some accumulating snow off her shoulders. Not replying, Kenshin handed her the binoculars and pointed. "Look there."  
  
Reina peered through the binocular's lenses, at the direction Kenshin pointed at. All she saw was a portion of the building's perimeter spiked-fence.   
  
"So what am I supposed to be seeing here?"  
  
Silence. Then-- "Magnify three times, then seven or eight degrees north."  
  
Shrugging, Reina slowly turned the large knob on the binoculars until she felt it click three times, and peered through them again, slightly raising it. Spikes filled her vision, along with falling snow.  
  
"Well?" said Reina, a bit annoyed. "I still don't see any-"  
  
"Magnify once, and then move to the left. Slowly."  
  
Looking back at her own brother curiously, Reina peered again, carefully turning her gaze as spikes against flung snow filled her sight again. Then she saw, not clearly, but she was sure about it all the same....a head, pierced on one of the spikes, the latter making a grotesque makeshift neck, its point poking out.   
  
It was Yuri Mikhail, one of the AEGIS captains who went missing after a previous skirmish with the invaders. Intelligence thought he was buried under the snow. But this....  
  
"Hostages." said Reina softly. "They've taken hostages."  
  
Kenshin nodded, eyes staring at their objective. "I found some footprints heading toward the plant a few minutes before they were completely covered by the blizzard."  
  
"How many?"  
  
"Four, five. Can't really tell..."  
  
"Damn." Reina said under her breath, sitting down in the snow, not feeling the cold.   
  
Hypothermia be damned, her legs were already tired from standing too long--  
  
--and it could get longer, from the looks of things.  
  
Damn.  
  
Hugging her knees, trying to conserve warmth, Reina listened as Kenshin yelled at Shirei conveniently from a two-way radio, informing him about the hostages over the blizzard's noise.  
  
***  
  
"Yeah, Shirei, HOSTAGES.... Hello? Hello? Shirei, can you hear me de g- YES! HOSTAGES! They've got hostages....how MANY? I think four, maybe five..what?...Gomen na sai de gozaru, but sessha can't..hear...Shirei? Shirei? SHIREI!"   
  
Kenshin sighed, turned off the radio and let it drop to the ground. The battery was almost dead anyway.   
  
"Kenshin!" He heard Reina call. He looked up to see Reina patting the snow beside her.  
  
"Come on. Don't keep standing there like an idiot, freezing your hair off. Sit next to me." She said, smiling.   
  
"Arigato de gozaru na." Kenshin said, returning the smile. He walked over and sat beside Reina, who pulled him close. It was getting colder.  
  
Damn it. Shirei should have told me.  
  
He didn't know. Nobody knew.   
  
Kenshin smiled a thin smile as Reina huddled closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. He felt her shiver.  
  
Poor Reina. She's freezing...not probably used to this kind of temperature...  
  
"Of course not. Baka." Reina muttered. Kenshin stared back at her, blinking.   
  
"Did I say that de gozaru ka?" He squeaked.  
  
"You're not the only one who studied under Hiko, mind you." Reina reached up with the hand holding Kenshin to her and whacked him softly on the head. "I can read chi too..."  
  
"A-Aa."  
  
Reina whacked him again, harder this time. "I'm shivering because I'm not used to this kind of weather, dumbass! And I'm not used to this kind of weather because I'm not like you, Battousai-SAN, who fought all winter long during the Bakumatsu...."  
  
"Look!" Kenshin threw up his hands in indignation. "It's not Battousai, ne?! It's *KENSHIN*. Himura. Ken-san. Whatever. Foxtail even. I don't care. Not Battousai, not Hitokiri, not Angel Slayer. Just don't..." He shook his head briefly. "..call me that."  
  
"Touchy, touchy."  
  
Kenshin lowered his head. "Try being named like some kind of monster from children's nightmares and you'd probably feel much like I did."  
  
"Okay, okay. No more name-calling." Reina slung one arm around Kenshin's shoulders and pecked him on the cheek. "No more digging up of the past.....God knows it's not good to dwell on such things...but then again..."  
  
Reina held Kenshin tighter. "..the past is all we have."  
  
Silence. Then--  
  
Kenshin looked at her curiously. "Where in the world, can I ask, did you get that from de gozaru ka?"  
  
"From you, where else?" Reina brushed more snow from her hair. "I don't have somebody else spouting 'zen' type garbage at me, now do I?"  
  
"All those years...I never knew..." Kenshin said, his voice trailing off, his eyes looking at the horizon, pensive, as if in sudden discovery of something...  
  
"What? You never knew what?"  
  
"That my annoying onee-sama actually listens to me..." Kenshin finished, and hastily dodged Reina's fist. "Eh...sumimasen...Ow."  
  
"Of course I listen to you! Dummy!" Reina chuckled as Kenshin tried to scrape the worst of the snowball she had squashed on his skull out of his hair. "I always do!"  
  
"Are you sure about that de gozaru ka?"  
  
Reina crossed her arms over her chest, taking a pose. She laughed confidently, much like a model. "Of course! Name one time I didn't."  
  
Kenshin scratched his messy head, eyes in deep thought. "Well...let's see... First off, there was that Superweapon you broke..."  
  
Reina was prepared. "They didn't say it was malfunctional."  
  
"But I told you not to, right? One point for me then...let's see..that's right...." Kenshin looked up to the sky completatively. "...giving Ayame and Suzume candy before going to bed, thus giving them cavities.."  
  
"How was I supposed to know they didn't brush that night?!"  
  
"Reina-dono..you know I always ask them if they did...if my memory serves me right, I think I reminded you to....another point for me...another one..hmm..ah!..spending grocery money on a MP5..."  
  
"Hey! It was a bargain!" Reina huffed indignantly.  
  
"You could've just asked me, you know....I knew an arms dealer then, and he'd be more the happy to give me a 50% discount.....sessha maintains his lead at three-zero....and, of course, who could forget, shooting Shirei with a paintgun...."  
  
"I apologized, didn't I?! Besides, Mulberry Pink went very well with that black suit he wore!"  
  
"...gave Ukiya's girlfriend a trick exploding present.."  
  
"Hey, HE asked me to give that to her! Wait! Alright! Alright! I concede! I give up!" Reina stood up, arms akimbo. "Okay, there might have been a teensy number times when I didn't listen to you, but that's not the point!"  
  
Kenshin looked up at her. "And the point is?"  
  
"I want you to listen to me!" Reina said, faintly pink.   
  
Some more silence.   
  
Kenshin scratched his head again, confused.  
  
Reina looked down at her own brother, brow knitting.  
  
"Don't I listen to you?"  
  
"You think?!" Kenshin hastily dodged a snowball that would have decapitated him. "Always the first to go! Not bothering to wait for me sometimes! And may I remind you," Reina said, eyes slitted as she packed some snow together in her hands, "...of the time that a particularly stupid 'someone' was so raring to go that he forgot to bring spare clips for his AK-47?!"  
  
Kenshin winced as a well-aimed snowball impacted squarely on his forehead, knocking him back into the snow.  
  
Gomen na sai de gozaru...I...Ouch. Whoever knew a snowball could hit so hard?  
  
"Hai, hai...suminai de gozaru yo...you've made your point...Ow."  
  
"Apology accepted." Reina held out her hand. Kenshin took it, and Reina helped him back up to a sitting position. She sat next to him, cuddling for warmth.  
  
"So you'll listen to me from now on?" she said, muffled.  
  
"Hai de gozaru."  
  
"No more secrets?"  
  
"Hai de gozaru."  
  
Some more silence. Then--  
  
"Kenshin?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Can we stay like this for a while? I want to sleep a bit.."  
  
It's not that cold.   
  
Not when she's around.  
  
"Hai." I'll try.  
  
So warm....  
  
Kenshin shook his head lightly, drawing a half-irritated protest from Reina, who was snoozing softly.   
  
You're not worthy. You never were. And never will be.   
  
Too tainted....too stained...  
  
Details, details, Kenshin almost heard Katsura-san say. Don't let them get in the way. A woman in love wouldn't. She would only see you. You. Not your past, not your scar, not your sword, not your sins. Only you.  
  
His hand went up, slowly, to cup his left cheek, pressing the ridges of his scar into his hand.   
  
Too tainted. That's what I am. But Tomoe...Kaoru...Reina...they saw beyond Battousai...   
  
He tried to rub life back into his legs, they were getting numb, and painfully so....Reina's grip around his waist did not help in any way.   
  
"Kenshin. Stop moving, dammit."  
  
Oops. Kenshin smiled his rurouni smile. Dammit, Reina, I don't know what I would do without you...and I would give half my life expectancy...not that it's so long, mind you....that you stay with me. "Gomen nasai. Did I wake you de gozaru ka?"  
  
"Yeah, you idiot, you did." Reina gave him a soft elbow to the ribs.  
"But thanks anyway." Yawning, she stood up and stretched, glancing at her almost-frozen watch. "We've wasted enough time.....I want to get back in time for dinner....here, catch...oops."   
  
Kenshin rubbed the spot where the Angel Slayer had connected painfully with his head. "Arigato de gozaru yo...ow.."  
  
"Clumsy jackass." Reina chuckled, helping Kenshin up. "Really. If I didn't know any better...Kenshin? Kenshin?" Reina asked, alarmed, when Kenshin suddenly went tense under her touch.   
  
"Kenshin? KenSHIN!" Reina shook her brother lightly. Was something wrong?  
  
He's here. I know he is.   
  
Kenshin's eyes quickly darted to the left, following shadows.   
  
Why now?   
  
He tensed all the more as he sensed another being, hidden, near them...watching them, motionless...too powerful for an invader..stained with pure malice...  
  
Of course -- oldest trick in the book -- attacking the enemy when his weakness is out in the fucking open....  
  
One hand immediately went to the Angel Slayer's handle, feeling the metal instantly go warm under his touch, as if welcoming. Slowly, he unsheathed it.  
  
There! Where...?  
  
He glanced sharply to the right.  
  
Where are you? What are you?  
  
Kenshin's hand tightened on the Angel Slayer, knuckles white.  
  
Who are you?  
  
There....  
  
"REMAIN NAMELESS!" Kenshin screamed, the Angel Slayer's tip gathering dark energy as he lifted it over his head...and then brought it crashing down on the ground, the energy flung out of the sword in a straight, black beam of death with enough force to obliterate a mountain....the beam streaked above the snow, blasting through anything in its path...and then exploded, sending ice flying everywhere.  
  
You are no god.  
  
I am.  
  
Reina looked at her own brother, mortified. This was the first time in months that he had actually used the Angel Slayer....much less attack with its dark energy. Whatever startled Kenshin into projecting a beam that powerful...she saw it detonate ten miles away....must have been strong.  
  
"Kenshin-" She started, and then stopped. Now she felt it too....something large, powerful...with the same dark energy as Kenshin's...   
  
Her hand immediately went to her rifle, her fingers wrapping around the bolt without looking, racking a bullet into the firing chamber. No sense standing around like an idiot..  
  
Then, as suddenly as it had appeared....it vanished....  
  
Kenshin silently slid the Angel Slayer back into its sheath, letting out the breath he had unwarely been holding.   
  
"Kenshin..." Reina tried again, putting back her sniper rifle in its sling, absently flicking the safety on and off. "What was that?"  
  
He slowly shook his head. "It's nothing." He said in a voice that sounded extremely like his other half. "Forgive me." Kenshin walked off.  
  
Bastard. You lie like a fool. Not even a deaf person would fall for that.  
  
Shut up. You know what I saw.   
  
And you're afraid?  
  
Yes.   
  
Afraid?  
  
Yes....  
  
Kenshin felt a hand clamp firmly on his shoulder and roughly turn him around.   
  
"Tell me." Reina said firmly, her voice not unlike Kenshin's, something hard set in her emerald eyes.   
  
"No."  
  
Kenshin walked off, leaving a stunned Reina behind.  
  
Reina. You don't need- you must not know. I'm scared...  
  
"Tell me." Reina said again, slightly breathless, catching up with him. "You said you'd listen....so listen already."  
  
No more secrets.  
  
"....."  
  
"Kenshin." Reina tried again. "Please...dammit, we already talked about this..."  
  
"This is another matter entirely."  
  
Reina grabbed her hair in frustration. God, Kenshin can be so stubborn sometimes....If only Shirei could see us now.... "Look, Kenshin...you used the Angel Slayer....doesn't that mean anything? I mean, come on! You hardly use it even when we're fighting invaders, much less if we're fighting enemy gatekeepers...."  
  
"...."  
  
"....and you use it only in emergencies..Kenshin? Kenshin?"  
  
Kenshin merely walked on, blatantly ignoring her.   
  
"Was it an enemy gatekeeper?" Reina guessed.  
  
"..."  
  
"Core invader?"  
  
"..."  
  
"Slayer?"  
  
"I said it was nothing." Kenshin said, his words clipped.  
  
"Demo-"  
  
"This conversation is over. De. Gozaru."  
  
Too close.  
  
Fuming, Reina hmmphed, shoved her hands into her pockets and stomped off.  
  
Idiot--- well, I'm not going to give up that easily --   
  
--there are OTHER ways--  
  
One hand immediately went to her katana.  
  
Just you wait, Himura....  
  
Reina barely suppressed a giggle when she heard Kenshin sneeze.  
  
***  
Fifteen Minutes Later  
***  
"Ready, Kenshin?"  
  
"A-Aa."  
  
Reina scrutinized the massive metal barricade before them, raising an eyebrow. "Well, I think one blast should be enough....right....stand back, Kenshin." Reina unslung her rifle and stripped its magazine away.  
  
"Ano....what are you going to do now de gozaru ka?" Kenshin asked Reina, curious as Reina loaded the rifle with ammunition he had never seen before. Well, at least not in the armory....well, Reina had ways of getting illegal calibers that would have had her arrested if not for her Earth Defender License.  
  
Wonder if it's napalm-encased rounds again....Kenshin thought, sweating as Reina racked the bolt of her rifle. The last time Reina used that particular kind of ammo, Reina had almost set the whole place on fire.  
  
"Ano de gozaru na..." Kenshin asked again, eyes widening as Reina took aim.  
  
"Nan da yo?" Reina slid her view from the scope to Kenshin, peering over the side of her rifle.   
  
"Um....sessha was wondering...."  
  
Who's asking questions now?  
  
Reina sighed, exasperated. She lowered the rifle. "No, Kenshin, these are NOT incendiary napalm rounds; no, these are NOT Acid encased rounds; no, these are not hydrogen rounds and NO, I am not going to do anything that would blow us all up to kingdom come." Reina brushed back her bangs, casting an annoyed look on her brother. "Well? Satisfied?"  
  
"Ha-hai..but...what-?"  
  
Reina smiled. "Gate rounds - .457 Wilde Magnum with a micro energy amplifier in each bullet cap. Armor Piercing, full metal jacket. Clocks about a millisecond faster than the average, ten thousand tons and a half on impact, range of ten miles....assuming it goes through a gate, of course. I'm field-testing it." Reina raised the rifle back up, and took aim again. Her gate opened, swirling white, almost indiscernible from the white snow.  
  
"Didn't I tell you to...?" Reina said simply to Kenshin, not taking her eyes off the sight. He took the hint, and backed away hastily.  
  
"Gate Assault..." her right hand automatically came up and disengaged the safety without the need to look. Forefinger tightening on the trigger, she concentrated.  
  
"Ether Flare!"   
  
Reina felt the monstrous kick of the rifle push her back as she fired; a loud, thunder-like explosion jarred the nearly-defeaning silence as the large round streaked toward the white gate. As it entered, the gate seemed to glow brighter as it absorbed the round....and then, abruptly, the oversized bullet blasted out of the gate, now encased in a massive white aura, like a comet....it streaked towards the barricade so fast that Reina barely had time to blink.  
  
Then, unexpectedly, a blinding light exploded as the Ether Flare hit an invisible wall a few feet from the barricade, repelling...the comet's energy crackled much like electricity as it struggled to push through.  
  
"They're using a shield!" Reina shouted over the din. For some reason the wind blew much stronger now, howling loudly, threatening to blow them off their feet. "My Ether Flare can't get through----"   
  
She was cut off when the comet suddenly exploded in white sparks, extinguished. The round, smoking and half-melted, fell to the ground with a defeated clunk. Kenshin shielded his face from the blizzard, hand automatically going to the Angel Slayer's handle, seeking its welcoming warmth, but after an afterthought, drew the sakaba instead.   
  
Never again. Never.  
  
"Reina! Flares at my signal!" Kenshin shouted to Reina, who was struggling to stay upright. She gave him a thumbs up, chambered a round and aimed.  
  
Ready...  
  
The wind, if possible, grew even stronger as both Gatekeepers opened their gates in unison, one white, one black; Kenshin with his katana poised over the gate; Reina, with the barrel of her gun pointed at hers. Both seemed to be immune to the wind as they stood unnaturally still.  
  
"NOW!!"  
  
In perfect harmony, both Gatekeepers unleashed a massive beam of white and black, the colors striking, clashing as they sped onward. Once again, the beams were blocked by an invisible wall; it seemed to hold....  
  
....and then was broken. The barricade, now without a shield, was destroyed utterly as the beams struck it, now unimpeded, making it explode into a thousand pieces, which then vanished into nothing.  
  
Instantly, under the cover of the resulting smoke, wasting no time, both Gatekeepers rushed into the compound, Kenshin with the sakaba in battou-jutsu position, Reina holding two fully loaded with armor piercing capability Uzi's in both hands.  
  
As they burst through the fog, Reina saw the inevitable; a mass of invaders rising from the ground, their glasses glinting in the sunlight, suits contrasting with the bright snow.   
  
Showtime.  
  
At this point, Reina's thoughts raced to the pace equal to her footsteps, a technique Kenshin had taught her upon her insistance; to calculate as quickly as possible, to organize your thoughts during the lapse of two running steps or less. It enabled you to look at an enemy, and while rushing, getting your katana strike blocked or hit, make split-second strategies or decisions that could very well save your life.  
  
So far Reina could devise a dozen strategies against her opponent in one second, and twice after that. Kenshin, obviously, had mastered it, capable of thinking up an unlimited number of attack plans just by looking at his enemy in the space of a millisecond or so -- a trait essential for survival, he had said--  
  
--or a trait of a Slayer.   
  
Reina effortlessly kept up with Kenshin's sprint, calculating. The invaders had already started firing -- the frequency rings exploded beside them, incinerating.   
  
Let's see now..Reina thought as another violet ring missed her by mere inches. Three hundred, give or take fifty.....five cores....no Enemy Gates....no civilians in sight -- probably inside the compound itself.   
  
Reina grinned, levelling the Uzis at the invaders, aiming.  
  
This was going to be easy.  
  
Without warning, she opened fire.  
  
****  
  
It's not here.  
  
Kenshin violently lashed out with the sakabatou, tearing apart an invader, reducing it into mere crystal.  
  
I can't find it...it must be gone.  
  
Pivoting sideways, Kenshin dodged a barrage of purple missiles, and, muttering a particularly vile curse he had learned from Reina, sent a massive black beam towards the direction where the missiles had come from.   
  
It better be....because if he's here I'll tear this place apart to find him...  
  
Kenshin gritted his teeth as he stabbed his sword into another invader and, taking hold of its neck, ripped it apart into two, which exploded weakly, again littering the snow with green shards.  
  
...and when I do find him...  
  
Kenshin opened his gate, deep black, before him, sword and body in battou-jutsu position, muscles stretching with tension, preparing...  
  
...I'll tear HIM apart.  
  
Without warning, Kenshin struck, the sword whipped out from its saya in a motion so fast it was a blur...wind screamed around him, torn by the force of the sudden blow....  
  
Tenshi Ansatsuken Ryuu. Aku-Fujin-Ryu-Sen.  
  
In an instant, the Gate of Death crackling with energy, countless huge air blades as dark as the gate itself flew in all directions, mercilessly cutting through anything...and exploding in impact..  
  
The sound of crystals exploding filled the air.  
  
***  
  
Nine. Eight. Seven.  
  
Reina dodged an oncoming invader, sidestepped and tilted at the same time, pivoted and sent three bullets at its direction, not bothering to look. Aiming, for Reina, was a quick art; one only needed a split second or less to confirm one's target, and shoot. Nothing more.  
  
Six.  
  
Reina jumped, and shoving one of her Uzi's directly in front of an invader's face, fired a point-blank shot that shattered the alien's skull.  
  
Five, four, three, two, one.  
  
Landing on one foot Reina shifted her weight to her heel, falling backwards, avoiding the frequency rings that flew above her and unleashed a barrage of bullets from both Uzis as she fell into the snow.  
  
Reload. Now.  
  
Reina pressed both Uzi's magazine release buttons with both thumbs and with one quick jerk, shook the empty, smoking magazines out of the guns and into the snow. Breathing hard, she fumbled for the magazines--it was so cold it was making her fingers numb--  
  
Too slow. Too slow--  
  
Reina slammed a clip into one of the Uzis, and not bothering to reload the other one, and without looking up, fired in front of her.  
  
Clink. Clink. Clink. The sound of crystals hitting each other told her all she needed to know.  
  
Die.  
  
Sliding a full magazine into the other Uzi, Reina opened her gate in front of her.  
  
"Gate Assault...Ether Missiles."  
  
Bracing herself, Reina leveled her guns at her gate and fired into it, the Uzis bucking crazily in her hands, smoking cartridges raining down her feet....  
  
Instantly, a massive rain of small white comets blasted out of the white gate, streaking and tearing through anything. Like a swarm of bees they flew in a tight formation, intent on killing. Invaders exploded in a brilliant shower of white and green as the homing projectiles struck with the power of a small bomb.  
  
*Click*  
  
Not missing a beat, Reina threw down the now-empty(and now half-melted) Uzis, drew her pistols and started firing, picking off invaders one by one. Left, right, left, right.  
  
They're not supposed to be this easy, Reina thought, firing alternately, right hand, then left, not counting her ammunition.  
  
Something's wrong....  
  
Alarm bells rang through her head as the last invader disappeared in a mist of green shards.  
  
Kenshin? Where --  
  
Reina turned to see Kenshin, a little ways off, sheathing his sakabatou....and one hand creeping up to the Angel Slayer...  
  
He's felt it too...  
  
Then, without warning, the ground below shook..... Reina whirled to see Kenshin, fear in his eyes, about to open his mouth to say something...  
  
***  
  
This is easy...too easy...  
  
Kenshin sheathed the sakabatou, not taking his eyes off the field, one hand resting on the Angel Slayer.  
  
Masaka....  
  
Kenshin's eyes widened at the sudden realization...  
  
Nothing but a trap. We were lured....Reina....  
  
No...  
  
"REINA!!!"  
  
****  
  
Kenshin...  
  
Reina stared in horror as a large, dragon-symbiote invader burst forth from the ground behind her, eyes flashing red, staring deep into her as it towered over her by a good twenty feet --  
  
Kenshin...  
  
Target Acquired.   
  
Proceed. Destroy. Destroy. Destroy.  
  
One of the dragon's claws cocked back, preparing to strike.  
  
Destroy--  
  
The claw plummeted towards Reina, a black blur amongst the white....  
  
Kenshin-  
  
Reina closed her eyes.  
  
Three. Two. One.  
  
Gate Assault-  
  
"ETHER FLARE!!"  
  
Without warning, Reina dropped on one knee and thrusted her hand up, towards the incoming claw, her gate open, and unleashed a beam so powerful it almost blinded her -- the beam streaked up to meet the invader entity --  
  
and was blocked by an invisible barrier....the beam crackled in protest...Reina, gritting her teeth, opened her gate wider, trying to penetrate the shield....the beam progressed inch by painful inch into the invisible wall...and then exploded.  
  
Reina watched in disbelief as her Ether Flare fizzle out and vanish. Obviously the invader was shielded as well, like the barricade....the claw, now unimpeded, sped downward again, and this time, struck Reina hard, blowing her off her feet, tossing her into the snow, skidding.  
  
"REINA!!!!"  
  
****  
  
Curse you -- curse you all--  
  
"REINA!!!!"  
  
Kenshin yelled as Reina was struck by the dragon in a fierce backhand....every muscle in his body taut...the fear that had held him earlier now gave way to hatred...pure, blinding hatred....a feeling that he was so accustomed to...one he had tried so many years to supress....to force back...  
  
to hold....  
  
First Tomoe...then Kaoru...  
  
Not Reina. No.  
  
No more secrets...I'll always protect you, Kenshin..  
  
"SHI-NE!!!!"  
  
Kenshin, now enraged, jumped, soaring high over the dragon whose head followed his ascent, sword hand closing over the Angel Slayer, feeling it instantly become warm....  
  
You are no protector.   
  
"Tenshi Ansatsuken Ryuu-"  
  
You are only an avenger. A Slayer.  
  
Changing trajectory in midair, Kenshin dived toward the Dragon, whose mouth was already open, as if to swallow him whole....  
  
So avenge.  
  
So slay.  
  
"AKU-RYU-SEN!!!"  
  
The whole world darkened in a single second, drowned in shadow as the greatest weapon on earth was used to its fullest extent.  
  
It has begun.  
  
*********************************************************************************************** 


End file.
